Footsteps in Time
by apracot
Summary: Emily Prentiss and Aaron Hotchner meet when they cross paths randomly one night, their lives continue to meet from then on until they can't ignore destiny any longer...
1. A lift home

Emily Prentiss is fresh from high school and looking for a way to pay for her apartment in Georgetown. Aaron Hotchner has just made the decision to stop practicing law and join the FBI. Their paths cross when he offers to give her a lift home from work... and the rest as they say is history.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

It's 1990, Emily is 19 and Hotch is 25. (for the sake of the story Emily's birthday is the same and Hotch's is the 2nd of November)

* * *

"Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over."

* * *

Emily Prentiss limped out of the club at two in the morning and made her way down the quiet street, with one hand on her pepper spray just encase.

She'd spent all day attending classes and for the last three hours she'd been dancing in six inch heels... but she needed to pay the bills and burlesque was the easiest option as it had flexible hours and the tips could be quite good.

She smiled as she thought of the look of horror that would be on her mother's face if ever she found out how her daughter really managed to afford her apartment... that would defiantly taint her political image.

She looked at her watch and seen it was already two in the morning... damn it, her apartment was on the other side of town and she had an early class in the morning.

She picked up her pace, hopping she'd not miss the bus that was on the next block.

Just as she rounded the corner thought she seen it speed of into the night, leaving her stuck in a red light district at two in the morning wearing nothing other than her 'work outfit' covered by a long jacket and thigh high boots... jeez she couldn't look more like a prostitute if she tried!

She walked two blocks, keeping her head down so no one would try and talk to her, before she noticed an all night cafe with a pay phone on the back wall that she could use to call her friend Lily.

She walked in; ignoring the weird looks she got from the customers, and went to talk to the middle aged woman at the counter.

"Excuse me but could-" Emily started, but she was cut off by the woman.

"I'm sorry honey but we don't serve your kind in here... It's bad for business." The woman whispered rudely, not wanting to cause a scene.

"Oh no, you don't understand... I'm not a hooker; I just want to use your phone to call my friend... I need a lift home." Emily said quickly, not bothering to whisper.

"Sure you do, and the phone's not working anyway." The woman said coldly, still not believing Emily's story.

"Um, excuse me, but I could give you a lift." A tall dark haired man said who was sitting in the booth right behind Emily.

Emily wasn't sure at first... I mean he could be a slime ball like most of the guys she knew... but there was something different about him... something that made her trust him.

"Uh, sure thanks." She said with a smile.

The man got up and paid for his food before escorting her out to his black BMW which was in the street.

Once inside it Emily looked around, there was a picture of a blonde haired woman on the dash board and Emily guessed that was his wife... there were also case files in the back seat so Emily guessed he was a lawyer or agent of some sort.

"I'm Aaron by the way, Aaron Hotchner." The man said as he started the engine.

"I'm Emily Prentiss." Emily said with a smile.

"Right then Emily, where you heading?" Aaron asked as he pulled out of his paring spot.

"Georgetown, anywhere around Wisconsin Avenue would be great." Emily replied, looking ahead at the lights of Capital Hill visible in the distance.

"Georgetown! You don't seem like the... I mean it's... um... It's expensive there." Aaron finished finally, not wanting to insult Emily.

"It is." Emily said, choosing to ignore the fact that he to obviously thought she worked on the street.

"So... um... what is it you do... I mean, you don't have to answer that... never mind!" Aaron stammered.

Emily couldn't help but smile, Aaron was obviously trying exceptionally hard not to put his foot in his mouth... and failing miserably.

"I'm a burlesque dancer, but it's only to pay the bills." She said. "Is that your wife?" She asked pointing to the picture, and trying to change the subject.

"No, she's my fiancée, Hailey." He said smiling brightly at the mention of her name.

"Oh right, she's very lucky." Emily said, trying to be nice... but at the same time meaning it as Aaron did seem to be a kind person, and he was defiantly handsome.

"I'm the lucky one really." Aaron said with a smile. "She's had to move here just because I've decided to join the FBI."

"Oh really? What'd you do before?" Emily asked, with genuine interest for the life of a man she hardly even knew.

"I was a criminal prosecutor, but I decided that I wanted to be a step closer to the action than just putting them away, I wanted to catch them as well." He said with a small smile.

"Oh... well it was brave of you to follow your dream like that." Emily said quietly, with a supportive smile.

"Thanks." He said, stopping the car as he spoke, signalling to Emily that she'd reached her stop.

"Right well good night." Emily said as she stepped out of the car.

"Night." Aaron said, before Emily closed the door.

She stood and watched as he drove off into the night, wondering if she'd ever see him again... hopping that she would as she really wanted to know more about him for some reason.

She then turned slowly and walked towards her apartment, still thinking off Aaron Hotchner.

* * *

There first chapter done. Tell me what you think of it =)


	2. Going to Yale

Ok so Emily is about to go to Yale and as we know Hotch is doing security detail for her and her family.

It's the autumn of 1991, Emily is 20 and Hotch is 26.

* * *

Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty. - Sicilian Proverb.

* * *

Hotch was excited to say the least... today was the start of his first assignment in the FBI and he couldn't wait.

He was working security for Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss and even though it was pretty basic work he was excited.

"Ma'am it's a pleasure to meet you." Aaron said once he met the ambassador in her study.

"Yes Agent Hotchner, it's a pleasure to meet you to." The ambassador said, accepting Aaron's outstretched hand. "You should meet my daughter Emily, she's heading off to Yale today." She added with a proud smile.

Emily Prentiss... where had he heard that name before?

Before he had a chance to rake through his memory Emily walked into the room reading a book.

Oh my god it was her! The burlesque dancer from Georgetown... her mother was an ambassador... now that he hadn't seen coming.

She looked even prettier than she had on that night, she was wearing a long shirt and a pair of skinny jeans with black leather boots... not that he should be thinking of how pretty she looked, he had a fiancée! Though it wasn't wrong to think she looked nice... was it?

"Pleasure to meet you Agent Hotchner." Emily said in what Aaron knew was a fake accent, he'd heard her talk before.

"Nice to meet you to, Ms Prentiss." Aaron said with a smile, he was tempted to say 'nice to meet you again' but he doubted Emily would like to explain to her mother how they'd met the first time.

At the sound of his voice Emily's head snapped up from the books she'd been reading... she knew that voice.

Once she seen his face, and that he was smiling at her she couldn't help but smile back... she'd always hoped they'd meet again.

"Hm... well I better go... I have to finish packing my stuff." She said before turning to leave, smiling at Aaron once more before she did... even if he did have a fiancée, flirting a bit wouldn't hurt.

Aaron watched her leave before turning back around and facing the ambassador who was now telling him all the duties he was expected to carry out while working at the embassy.

It wasn't for another hour that he finally left Ambassador Prentiss's study and began to walk around the large house, secretly hopping to run into Emily before she left for Yale.

It didn't take him long to find her though, he simply followed the sound of her voice to her bedroom, where he found her singing 'like a virgin' and hopping around her room as she packed.

"Mind if I come in?" He asked quietly, not wanting to scare her.

Emily turned around quickly, slightly scared, but once she seen who it was she immediately relaxed and smiled, gesturing for him to come in.

"Hey." She said, as she got back to packing her things, dropping the fake accent she'd had earlier.

"Hey... so your mom's an ambassador huh?" He asked casually as he sat on her bed watching her pack.

"Yup, Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss is my mother." Emily said, not looking up from her packing.

"Must have been a tough life." Aaron said, noticing the coldness in Emily voice.

"Well it didn't leave much room to make friends, but I managed." Emily said, looking up at him for the first time since he came in. "So you made it into the FBI then." She said with a smile.

"Yea... this is my first assignment actually." Aaron said proudly.

"Oh that's not much fun... assigned to my family... we're not exactly assassination targets... well not since mother was posted in Serbia, but that was before I was born." Emily said with a light tone to her voice.

"Well the FBI isn't like they make it out to be in the movies you know... we're not all high speed gun chases and explosions." Aaron joked.

"Aw darn it Aaron way to burst my bubble." Emily laughed. "So hows... um... Hailey?" Emily said, trying to remember the name of his fiancée.

"She's good, we're getting married in the spring." Aaron said with a guilty smile.

He for some reason felt uncomfortable talking about Hailey in front of Emily, almost like he was cheating on her just by talking about her to Emily... strange he didn't feel that way about other women.

"Oh a spring wedding, I've always wanted a winter one myself but I'd need to get a man first." Emily joked, pushing away the tiny bubble of envy that rose to the surface when she heard they were getting married... what the heck was wrong with her?!

"Yea... I wanted a winter wedding too but Hailey insisted on the spring." Aaron said, trying not to think of a winter wedding... with Emily, I mean he'd only known her two seconds.

There was a moment of acward silence in the room before Aaron spoke again.

"So Yale... what makes you want to go there?" He asked not liking the silence that had filled the room.

"Well they had the course's I wanted and mother didn't really want me going to Georgetown in the first place... she wanted an Ivy League college for me." Emily said with an eye roll.

"What courses are you doing?" Aaron asked again, his mind buzzing with interest for this woman.

"Linguistics, and sociology." She said, as she walked over to her drawer to retrieve some tops.

"Really, because Harvard does them courses as well, and it's a far better college." He said with a smile.

"Ah, so I'm guessing the great Aaron Hotchner attended Harvard." Emily said with a small laugh.

"Of course I did." Aaron said also laughing.

The room again fell to silence, only this time not an acward one, Emily kept packing her clothes and Hotch was watching her intently.

"You know the suitcase can only hold so much." Aaron said with an amused look as Emily finally finished packing and tried to zip up her luggage.

"Well how about instead of standing staring at me, you help me close it." Emily said as she tried with all her mite to zip the case, only managing to get the zip half ways up one side.

"Ok bossy... you hold the sides together and I'll zip." He ordered, moving around her bed to help.

"I'm not bossy." Emily said in a mock hurt tone.

"Sure you're not Emily, sure!" Aaron said sarcastically.

Five minutes later Emily glided down the stairs to the entrance hall where her mother and father were waiting for her, Hotch coming behind her carrying her case... which was so heavy that if he hadn't seen her pack it he'd have sworn it was bricks she had in it.

"Thank you for carrying my bag Agent Hotchner." Emily said, her fake accent now back in place that she was around her family.

"You're welcome Ms Prentiss." He said, following her lead, and dropping her first name like she'd done with his when they were around her family.

"Hurry up Emily dear, there's a car waiting." He mother said before kissing her on the cheek.

"I'll see you soon sweetheart." Her father said before giving her a hug.

"Bye mother, bye dad." She said with a smile before heading towards the doors.

"I'll take your luggage for you." Aaron said, picking up her case and following her.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't tell my mother or father where we first met." Emily said quietly once they were out of earshot.

"I shall take it with me to the grave." Aaron said with a wink as he loaded her case into the trunk of the car.

"Ok well there's no need to be that dramatic, but thanks." Emily said, standing at the door of the car watching him.

"Well I'll see you again maybe." Aaron said once he was done.

"Maybe." Emily said, before giving him a small hug. "Bye Aaron." She said as she got into the car.

"Bye Emily." He said to himself as he watched the car pull away.

* * *

So that's chapter two... tell me if you liked it... or not!


	3. Weddings and nicknames

Ok so Emily and her family have been invited to Hotch's wedding... I would say that's nice... but it's not when you have a huge crush on the guy getting married.

It's the spring of 1992, Emily's 21 and Hotch is 27.

* * *

Nicknames stick to people, and the most ridiculous are the most adhesive. - Thomas Chandler Haliburton.

* * *

Aaron couldn't help but feel nauseous.

He'd gotten down the aisle ok and he was now at the reception but he couldn't help but look over his shoulder every five minutes for Emily.

Really it was his fault... he's been the one who'd invited her here, he hadn't seen her again after she'd gone to Yale and even though they barely knew each other he'd missed her.

Once she got the invite she'd accepted it immediately and he'd been so happy she was able to come, even if he knew deep down he shouldn't be.

But now he was starting to wish he hadn't invited her... he shouldn't be inviting women to his wedding because he had a crush on them... I mean damn this was his and Hailey's wedding... what was he thinking!

It's not that he didn't love Hailey... because he did... and he'd never ever cheat on her... so why was he looking over his shoulder and secretly hopping to see Emily standing behind him.

It was while at the bar waiting for his drink... and waiting for Hailey to come back from the group of her friends that he really didn't want to talk to... that he seen Emily talking to someone.

She looked up and once she met his eye she smiled, he returned the smile and waved for her to come over so they could talk.

Once she came over she gave him a hug which he hadn't been expecting, but he returned it anyway, liking the feeling of her being close to him... damn he was in trouble now.

"Congratulations." She said, once they both pulled back from what had only been a brief hug.

"Thanks." He said smiling. "Would you like a drink... you are twenty one now right?" He asked, unsure whether he should be offering her alcohol or not.

"Yup... as of the twelfth of October last year, I'm twenty one." She said with a bright smile.

"Ah, well happy belated birthday then." Aaron said with a smile as he motioned for the bar tender to come down when he was ready, secretly cataloguing the date in his mind so he could send her a card next time.

"Thanks." Emily said. "And I'll get these, it is your wedding after all." She said as she gave the bar man her order and paid for Aaron's drink.

"Thanks." Aaron said as he took his scotch and began to drink it, watching Emily drink her vodka and cranberry and just enjoying the silence.

"So how's the not as glamorous as I thought FBI?" Emily teased after a moment.

"It's good, I was in SWAT for a while but I'm being transferred to Seattle in a month to work in the field office over there." He said.

"Ah more moving, sounds like my childhood." Emily joked, ignoring the pang of loneliness she felt at the thought of him moving... she was at his wedding for god sakes get over him!

"Yea... but it's a better job with better pay so who am I to refuse it." Aaron replied, ignoring the pity he felt for Emily's childhood. "So how's Yale?" he asked after another moment silence.

"It's good, I'm enjoying it there." Emily said smiling brightly now that the topic had moved away from him leaving.

"So you're not regretting picking it instead of Harvard?" Aaron asked in mock surprise.

"Oh ha, ha, I'm not actually." Emily said sarcastically.

"Sure." Aaron laughed.

"Hey, for your information Hotch, Yale is far better than Harvard." She stated happily.

"Hotch... where'd that name come from?" He asked.

"Well Hotch is short for Hotchner and... I don't know, it suits you I guess... Maybe I've had too much to drink." Emily laughed, setting down her now almost empty drink and blushing slightly.

"No... It's ok, I like the name." He smiled, reassuring her.

"You don't have to say that." She whispered, blushing even more than before.

"I know I don't, but I like the name." He said, stopping himself from adding 'because I like the person who gave it to me' to the end just in time, as Hailey chose that exact moment to walk over.

"Hey honey." She said, kissing him briefly on the lips.

This almost caused Emily to walk away, but she stopped herself knowing her leaving at that moment would raise questions... and eyebrows.

"Hey." Aaron replied smiling. " Honey this is my friend Emily Prentiss and Emily this is my new wife Hailey." He said, introducing the two.

"Emily, lovely to meet you." Hailey greeted cheerily, shaking Emily's hand.

"Likewise... and congratulations by the way." Emily said, with a forced smile, accepting Hailey's hand shake.

"Thank you." Hailey said politely. "So where did you and Aaron meet?" She asked.

"Oh Aaron worked security for my mother last year and we met then." Emily replied, choosing to leave out the story of him giving her a lift home from a burlesque club... as innocent as it had been she doubted Hailey would see it that way.

"Oh right... you're Ambassador Prentiss's daughter?" She asked.

"Yes that's me, mother couldn't come to the wedding, she has a new posting, but she sends her best regards." Emily informed them. "Well I better go and mingle, leave the happy couple alone." She stated after a brief moment of awkward silence.

"Oh well thanks for coming Emily." Hailey said, giving her a brief and awkward hug.

"Yea see you around Emily." Aaron said, also giving her a quick hug before turning to his wife.

Emily walked away quickly, not wanting to stick around anymore... she turned just before the door and looked back to see Aaron staring at her smiling, she smiled back and walked out of the room.

* * *

I didn't really like that chapters ending but the next chapter will be better, I promise... At least we know where Hotch got his nickname! Lol. Tell me what you thought =)


	4. Happy Birthday?

Ok so Emily's on a trip to Seattle with her new boyfriend and she bumps into Hotch... Awkward much!

It's October of 1996. Emily's 26 (Just after her birthday) and Hotch is 31.

* * *

"A friend is one who knows us, but loves us anyway." - Jerome Cummings.

* * *

Emily walked around the shop's dragging Mick behind her.

They'd been going out for a month and things were going ok... she couldn't see a future in the relationship but he'd been nice enough to get her a weekend break in Seattle for her birthday.

What bothered Emily however was even though Mick had gotten her this trip, all expenses paid, she still felt happier the day before they'd left when a card had come in the post from Aaron... or Hotch as she now called him as a joke.

Ever since she'd told him her birth date at his wedding he'd sent a card every year... god only knew how he'd gotten her address, though it probably something to do with the FBI.

It was around lunch time when Mick had gone to find a bathroom and Emily was browsing through some sale clothes that she heard a man clear his throat behind her.

Presuming she was in his way she stepped aside only to hear him laughing at her.

She turned around in confusion and immediately broke into a huge smile when she seen Aaron standing there smiling at her.

She immediately leapt on him and hugged him, only stepping back when she realised in reality she'd only met this man three times and they probably hadn't quite reached the leaping into each other's arms stage.

"Hey." She said meekly.

"Hey to you to." Aaron said, laughing at how excited she was to see him.

Sorry for... um... jumping you there." She mumbled, looking away and blushing as she spoke.

"It's good, working in the FBI has given me some muscle, so I can take a woman jumping me every now and then." He joked.

"Pfft... yea you're not that strong Hotch." She laughed.

"You're just jealous of this muscle." He smiled, flexing his arm to show off.

"Mhm... whatever show off." She teased, secretly wishing he'd show off to her again.

"Happy birthday as of yesterday by the way." He said suddenly as if he'd just remembered.

"Aw thank you... and thanks for the card, and all the other card's you've sent me for my birthdays." She added happily.

"You're welcome Emily." He said with a smile. "So how's life?" He asked.

"It's really good actually, I'm done at college... so you'll be glad to know I've left Yale... and I've actually just enrolled in the FBI." She said proudly.

"No way! That's great! What department are you in?" He asked, hopping they'd one day get to work together.

"Well I'm in Chicago now, working in the field office there." Emily said with a proud smile... she'd never say this but it was actually because of Aaron that she'd decided to join the bureau.

"Wow that's impressive! I'm happy for you." He said giving her another quick hug.

"Hey get away from my girlfriend." A man shouted from behind Aaron, who quickly turned.

"Excuse me?" Aaron asked in shock.

"You heard me, get away from her, now!" The man growled at Aaron.

"Mick stop being so childish, this is Aaron, he's a friend of mine who worked for my mother, and Aaron this is Mick... My boyfriend." She added quietly, wishing Mick would just leave the two of them alone to catch up properly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mick." Aaron said, forcing a smile and offering a handshake.

Emily had a boyfriend! He didn't know why he cared, I mean he'd been married for four years... but for some reason he felt... hurt.

"Yea, you to, now why the hell were you hugging my girlfriend?" He spat ignoring Aaron's out stretched hand.

"Mick please stop, we're just friends, honestly!" Emily tried to reason.

"Please, I know what you did when you lived in Georgetown you little s-" He started angrily, but Aaron cut him off.

"Stop talking right now." Aaron whispered menacingly, using is two inch height advantage to intimidate the other man.

"Or what?" Mick sneered.

"Or I'll arrest you for causing a scene, and don't think the charges won't stick, because I'll make sure they do." Aaron threatened.

"Whatever." Mick responded, before shooting Emily a dirty look and storming off.

Aaron turned to Emily, who'd become extremely quiet, to see that she had tears in her eyes.

"Are you ok?" Aaron asked worriedly stepping closer to her.

"I'm... I'm fine." She whispered, wiping the last tear from her eye and giving Aaron a watery smile.

"Are you sure... you seem pretty shook up." Aaron said rubbing his hand up and down her arm.

"Yea I'm fine honestly... though I think we should get out of here, people are starting to stare." She whispered, motioning with her head to the half dozen people who were now staring at them like they were a circus act.

"Yea, let's go." Hotch said looking around the shop as well.

Once they were out in the fresh air again Hotch turned back to Emily.

"Do you want to grab a coffee now or something, you still seem pretty shook up." He enquired.

"No, if I know Mick he'll be at a bar now so I think I'll go back to the hotel and pack my stuff so I can be gone when he gets beck." Emily said with a sigh.

"Do you want me to come with you... for backup." Aaron asked, not wanting Emily to get hurt.

"Don't worry I'm sure I'll manage." Emily said with a smile. "I'm a big tough FBI agent now."

"Hey the job isn't as glamorous as you think remember." Hotch said smiling knowing that if she was making a joke of things she was ok.

"Yea, yea." Emily said as she turned to walk away.

Aaron also turned to leave but the sound of Emily's voice made him turn back.

"Hotch." She called using his nickname. "Do you want my new address?" She asked.

"Why?" He questioned once she'd walked back up to him.

"So we can... you know, keep in touch properly even now that I'm moving to Chicago." She said meekly with a small smile.

"Ah... of course I do... though I won't be writing much for a month or so because I might be getting transferred , but if you give me your address I'll write to you as soon as I'm settled." He offered.

"Oh transferred to where?" she asked as she wrote her address on a piece of paper she'd gotten from her bag.

"Hopefully the BAU." Hotch said with a smile as he watched her write.

"Seriously! Wow that's brilliant Hotch." She said in amazement.

"I know, I'm pretty excited... though Hailey's not to thrilled about moving again." He added with a tone of guilt in his voice.

"Don't worry, she loves you so she'll move." Emily said, almost saying 'I know I would' at the end but stopping herself and instead handing Hotch the paper with her address.

"Thanks." He said smiling at her as he accepted the slip of paper.

"Well bye, and I hope we talk again soon." She said with a smile.

"Bye." Hotch said, "and yea, we'll talk again soon." He added standing and watching her walk away.

* * *

There... tell me what you thought. =)


	5. The presentation

Ok so Emily is at a presentation about arsonists and guesses that one of the guest speakers is... right answer... Hotch! =)

It's the winter of 1998, Emily is 28 and Hotch is 33.

* * *

We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person." - William Somerset Maugham.

* * *

Emily sat in the small corridor waiting for the doors to open, swinging her legs like a child and happily humming "Don't stop me now" by Queen under her breath.

She was explosively happy because her boss had _finally _agreed... after months of begging... to let her come to one of the presentations taught by the BAU.

She hadn't received a letter from Hotch in a week or two... which wasn't uncommon as when he was working on a case it could be a month before he replied... so she didn't know if he was here today, but she was excited all the same.

Ever since she'd joined the bureau she'd wanted to be in the BAU... and not only because Hotch was in it, because that would be borderline stalker, the man was married after all.

The presentation that was being held today was also on one of her favourite topics... and also one of the most topical subjects due to the recent spate of fires in Chicago all of which had resulted in a death... serial arsonists.

The doors to the room that the presentation was being held in opened and she jumped up of her seat like an excited child before realising how immature that would have looked and taking a deep breath before following her boss... who was giving her an 'act your age not your shoe size' look... into the room.

Once she was seated in a comfy chair in the corner... only the section chiefs were aloud at the table's in the centre of the room... a man walked in followed by the person that literally made her day just by being in the room.

"Good afternoon." The first agent greeted sombrely. "I'm SSAIC Jason Gideon and this is SSA Aaron Hotchner and we shall be giving you a presentation today on serial arsonists and how to deal with them."

Emily then caught Hotch's eye and they shared a brief smile. Emily could tell just from the look of him that he was under pressure... this must be one of his first presentations.

"Wasn't Agent Rossi meant to be giving this talk?" One section chief at the front of the room asked in confusion.

"Yes Agent Rossi was meant to be here but his sudden departure from the FBI last month has meant most of his public appearances have been cancelled." Agent Gideon replied.

"So instead we've been landed with you and a rookie." The same section chief responded.

At this comment Emily almost jumped up and floored the stupid smug agent, but for some reason... probably the fact she knew she'd be fired before she could explain herself... she managed to stay seated... though she did nearly tear the arms of the seat of.

"Actually sir, I've worked in the BAU for two years now and before that I worked in SWAT and the Seattle field office for five years and in that time I've worked several serial arson cases, both while in the BAU and before while in Seattle... so with all due respect I'd hardly class myself as a rookie." Hotch replied smoothly, easily putting the other agent in his place.

"Damn, that guy doesn't take any shit." A black agent sitting beside Emily whispered to her.

"That he most certainly does not." Emily smiled, as she finally loosened her grip on the arms of the chair.

"And who might you be?" the man flirted casually after a moment of listening to the talk.

"Agent Emily Prentiss." Emily replied before turning her head back to the talk... she'd be nice to the guy, he did seem friendly... but she wasn't going to let him side track her from Hotch, who was now talking.

After the presentation... which had lasted two hours... the entire room made their way to the far corner where there was a table laid out with refreshments.

"Hello stranger." Hotch's voice greeted from behind Emily causing her to jump slightly.

"Well hello yourself, Mr. Kick Ass." Emily greeted once she turned to face him.

"Kick Ass? Is that another of your wonderful nicknames?" Hotch asked in amusement.

"Nope... that's what you done on that podium today." Emily said with a wink.

"Really... you're not just saying that?" Hotch asked with an almost shy smile.

"No actually I'm not just saying that... and I'm not the only one saying it either." Emily added reassuringly.

"Really? Who else said it?" Hotch asked, interested in how his talk had been received.

"Well the guy sitting beside me... um... Agent Derek Morgan I think his name was, he's in the bomb squad... not to mention half the people who's conversations I've just happened to overhear." She added happily.

"Really... well that just might give me a big head." Hotch teased.

"Ha, as if I'd let you get one of those... don't worry I'll deflate it every now and then." Emily laughed.

They stood in silence for a while not really having anything to say to each other, instead watching the people in the room walk by, the odd one coming up and congratulating Hotch on his speech.

"You seem stressed." Emily said after yet another person came up and shook Hotch's hand.

"Well I've got a stressful job." Hotch reminded her, not quite catching her eye as he spoke.

"I know you do... but that's not the kind of stress I'm on about... I mean the kind of stress that happens when things aren't going your way." Emily said... she may not be a profiler but she could tell there was something up with Hotch, and she knew it wasn't purely to do with work.

"Well the job does change people you know." Hotch snapped slightly.

"I know... you've told me so in your letters... not to mention the fact you smile a lot less now than you did two years ago." Emily replied, ignoring him snapping at her.

There was another silence in which Emily tried her own version of 'profiling' to figure out what had Hotch in the mood he was in.

"How's Haley?" She asked suddenly realising the only non work thing that could be getting Hotch down.

"She's uh... she's good." Hotch said with a hesitant and tight smile.

"Uh huh... you do realise that I can tell you're lying right?" Emily asked, worried... and not that she'd ever admit it, but a little happy... about Hotch's un-reassuring answer.

Hotch sighed... there was no point lying or trying to shut her out... he could do neither to this woman... ignoring her wouldn't work as she was far too stubborn to let him, and shutting her out defiantly wouldn't work as she knew just how to break down his walls.

"Well... it's just... well with me travelling so often it's... it's causing a lot of arguments." Hotch told her quietly.

"Oh I see." Emily said, not really sure of what else she could say... so instead she gave him a sad smile and waited for him to speak again.

"She wants a kid as well you know." Hotch added quietly after a moment.

This caused Emily to flinch slightly, which she immediately kicked herself for... it was his wife, why should she care if they were having kids!

"And what do you want?" Emily asked quietly.

"Honestly I don't know... I mean I want a kid, I really do... but I don't know... I mean this job comes first and I don't know how often I could be there... I don't want to make promises I'll break, I do enough of that already... but Haley doesn't understand that... she doesn't understand the job I have... and we're just not as close as we were when we got married." He concluded, looking away sadly.

Emily didn't say anything... I mean what could she say to that? Deep down she agreed with him... there was no denying that it was hard to juggle a career in the FBI and a family, never mind a career in the BAU.

Just as she was about to tell him she was sure it'd be fine... lame she knew but what else could she say... Agent Gideon walked over to them briskly.

"Uh something wrong Gideon?" Hotch asked staring at the man.

"Yes, we've got a case in New Jersey. We're leaving in twenty." Was all he said before walking away again quickly.

"Well I guess I'll see you again some time." Hotch said to Emily with a smile.

"You bet your ass you will." She smiled, before leaning over and giving him a quick hug.

"Well good think then, I'd miss those hugs of yours." Hotch said once they stepped apart.

"Well now I might just get a big head." Emily teased, trying to hide the blush that was appearing on her cheeks.

"Well that's another reason we'll have to meet soon." Hotch laughed. "We both need to deflate each other's egos every now and then."

"True that." Emily also laughed. "Well I'll see you around then." She said with a smile, as agent Gideon motioned for Hotch to hurry up.

"Yea bye Emily." He said with a smile.

"Bye Hotch." She replied, before he walked away.

* * *

Tada! I also mentioned Morgan, Rossi and Gideon in that chapter, cause I missed the team in this story...lol. Ok so I decided that Hotch and Haley's relationship would be showing cracks well before she left him, so I decided this would be the chapter to show them appearing properly.

Tell me what you thought. =)


	6. The case part 1

Well Emily's back in Chicago and they need the BAU's help with a case... queue Hotch saving the day. This will be two chapter's long cause a lot happens during a case!

It's summer of 2000, Emily is 29 and Hotch is 34.

* * *

"Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter." - Friedrich Nietzsche.

* * *

Emily sat racking through some of the case files that lay on her extremely over cluttered desk.

She was emotionally worn out... this was by no means her first murder case but this one hit her on a personal level as well... four woman killed in as many weeks and the only link between them was they all went to an abortion clinic at some point during their lives.

She was just glad that her stubborn as hell boss had finally agreed to call in the BAU to help them... something she'd been practically begging him to do since body number two was found.

The fact that they were at a dead end with the case wasn't the only reason she'd asked for the BAU... though it had been her main reason... it was also because she really wanted to see a friendly face and the job had meant she made very few friends, though she'd kept in touch with Hotch over the years... especially since the job and Haley had started getting him down... and he was one of if not her closest friend.

She was lost in this thought when she heard her boss calling her over.

She jumped up and quickly made her way over to the main open area of the bullpen and her face instantly broke into a smile when she seen Hotch along with two other agents one of whom she recognised as Agent Gideon.

"Agent Prentiss these are Supervisory Special Agents Aaron Hotchner, Katie Cole and Jason Gideon with the BAU." Her boss introduced. "And agents, this is Emily Prentiss she's the lead agent on this case so you'll be working with her." He added before walking away.

"Well I've got a room ready for you back here." Emily said, motioning for them to follow her with her arm.

"Thank you Agent Prentiss." Katie said before walking into the room.

"Thanks Em," Hotch said quietly. "And sorry about Gideon, he sometimes forgets to say please and thank you." He added as Gideon walked past without speaking.

"its fine, most of the guy's that works here are like that." Emily sighed, wishing there was more women in the FBI.

It wasn't until seven o' clock that evening that they started making any head way with the case and Gideon and Katie had headed out to interview the only surviving victim of the Unsub, leaving Hotch and Emily behind to keep working victimology.

"So how's Hailey doing?" Emily asked absentmindedly... well she'd wanted to ask for a while but hadn't gotten the chance... as she looked through a case file for the third time that day to make sure they hadn't missed anything.

"She's ok... things are still pretty rough at home... you know, with me travelling... but it's... ok." Hotch answered with a reluctant and half hearted smile.

Emily could see from the look in his eye's that things weren't going as well as he was making them out to be... she didn't need to be a profiler to guess that one... but she chose to leave it, knowing that if Hotch had really wanted he would tell her.

"I heard Gideon and Katie call you Hotch earlier." She said, trying to change the subject.

"They seen one of your letters on my desk and... what can I say, your nickname's stick." He said with a small laugh.

"That they do Hotch." Emily laughed.

"So how are you finding your first serial killer case?" Hotch asked after a moment.

"Mhm..." Emily said with a small smile, before looking back at her work... even if it was Hotch she was talking she really didn't want to talk about how this particular case was making her feel .

"Ok spill... what's up?" Hotch asked, throwing down his own file on the small wooden desk that occupied most of the space in the room.

"Huh... Oh nothing." Emily muttered, looking up from her file again.

"Emily you're talking to a profiler... and your friend, so there's not a hope in hell that excuse is going to work." Hotch said, looking worried.

Emily sighed and threw down her file on top of Hotch's but didn't speak, instead choosing to stare at her hands pick her nails.

"Emily please tell me... I'm worried." Hotch begged, moving his seat closer to her and tilting her face up with his hand so she was looking him in the eye.

"It's just... this case." She sighed.

"What about it? It's not the worst case you've ever worked... You've told me about worse ones." Hotch said, confused and getting more worried by the minute.

"I know I've seen worse but... I... it could have been me." She finished quietly averting her gaze once more.

"Emily what do you mean? You're going to have to talk to me properly." Hotch said, trying to look her in the eye again.

"Well... you know how I travelled a lot when I was a kid?" Emily sighed.

Hotch just nodded and waited for her to continue in her own time.

"Well we were in Rome... I was fifteen and all I wanted was friends." She whispered, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to overwhelm her.

Hotch stared at the in silence, knowing what she was going to say next, but wanting her to say it just to be sure.

"I... I got pregnant, and well... I... I wasn't ready." She finally said, tear's now streaming down her face, as this was the first time she'd ever spoken about it to anyone.

"Come here." Hotch said, pulling her into his arms and letting her cry, not really knowing what else to do other than whisper comforting words in her ear.

They sat like that for five minutes before Emily finally began to pull away and wipe her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt.

"I'm sorry." She muttered, once her eyes were clear, looking away again.

"There's no need to be... what you just told me was brave of you to say... thank you." Hotch said, wiping the last remaining tear from her eye and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Thanks." Emily sniffled, with a small smile.

"Any time Emily, any time." He smiled. "Now we better get back to work before Gideon and Katie get back and wonder why the heck we have nothing done." He added, knowing that working would distract Emily from the way she was feeling.

"Ah yes, we wouldn't want 'slacker' going on your record, now would we." Emily joked with a watery smile, now almost fully recovered from her admission about her childhood.

"No we wouldn't, because I'm ranked higher than you so I could put it on your record as well." Hotch teased.

"You wouldn't dare!" Emily laughed.

"Want to bet?" Hotch asked also laughing.

At this Emily scrunched up a piece of paper and threw it at Hotch, hitting him square in the face causing them both to laugh harder.

"Sorry to interrupt but there's another body that's just been found... same M.O as well." An officer said from the doorway just before Hotch threw paper back.

* * *

Well this is the first of two chapters stay tune for the next one! Oh and did you notice Katie Cole from P911 in this story... I couldn't think of another girl agent (JJ and Garcia weren't on the team at this stage by my calculations) and I didn't want all men! Tell me what you thought. =)


	7. The case part 2, unrequited love?

This is the second chapter in the Chicago story... Emily and Hoch are obviously the same age.

* * *

"I will love you as the iceberg loves the ship, and the passengers love the lifeboat and the lifeboat loves the teeth of the sperm whale, and the sperm whale loves the flavour of naval uniforms." — Lemony Snicket.

* * *

It had been... to say the least... the toughest case Emily had ever been a part of.

The last body they'd found... that of a sixteen year old dark haired girl... had made her loose it completely, and only for Hotch had been there to calm her down she'd probably still be in a state now.

No one else had noticed... it's not like she'd cried or anything... but once Hotch seen how the girl resembled Emily both in looks and in the age she'd been when she'd had an abortion he'd looked at her and seen she was near breaking point.

Hotch had calmly excused the pair of them from the scene and taken her to a spot behind a tree where they couldn't be seen and Emily had immediately thrown up on the ground around her.

Hotch had tried to comfort her but she'd told him there was no need, that she was fine and that it was just the shock of seeing someone so like her... dead and alone after what they'd gone through that had upset her.

They'd caught the man responsible shortly after... he'd slipped up and left a fibre on the body and that along with the profile was enough to send him away for life.

Hotch and Emily had offered to stay behind and clear up... Gideon and Katie were going to get some sleep before the flight out the next morning.

"Do you want to get a drink?" Hotch asked as they put away the last case file.

"I think I'd rather just go to bed, thanks." Emily sighed, as she picked up her jacket and headed for the door... she really just wanted to curl up with a tub of ice-cream and a crappy romance movie on her couch and forget about this case.

"Oh no you don't!" Hotch said, placing an arm on her shoulder to stop her leaving. "I know you well enough to know you're going to eat yourself silly and watch the movie that can destroy the most brain cells the quickest and I'm not going to let that happen, you're coming with me." He said, adding emphasis to the last part as he also grabbed his coat and dragged her from the room.

"You know me to well... stalker!" Emily joked as they left the building.

"Yea... I don't think they call it stalking when you tell me how you unwind after a case in your letters." Hotch laughed as he unlocked his car.

"Minor technicality." Emily laughed as she jumped in the passenger door.

"Oh yea just a minor one." Hotch teased as he started the engine and headed out onto the street.

They didn't talk while in the car, Hotch followed Emily's directions to the bar that she visited and he was pleasantly surprised to find it was a quiet bar with very few people in it... not the kind of place you'd expect a twenty nine year old single woman to visit on her night of... then again Emily Prentiss wasn't what you'd call an average twenty nine year old woman!

They found a table in a quiet corner of the room, with a view of the bar so they could get the bar mans attention for more drinks if necessary... which it most certainly would be after the case they'd had.

They sat down and the bar man came over with a scotch for Hotch and a beer for Emily, walking away quickly when he saw neither person at the table was in the mood for thanking him for his service.

"I thought you liked vodka and cranberry?" Hotch questioned as Emily took a swig from her beer bottle... thinking back to what she'd been drinking at his wedding.

"Yea... well I changed." Emily said quietly, not ever taking her eyes of her drink.

"Emily what's wrong." Hotch asked with a sigh, placing his drink down on the table and trying to catch her eye.

Emily didn't answer immediately, instead lifting her drink to her lips and taking another gulp of out of the now almost empty beer bottle, before placing it carefully on the table and slowly meeting Hotch's gaze.

"It's just... the guy we caught... he was... his wife had an abortion behind his back, and it broke him to the point where he became a serial killer." Emily whispered looking away from Hotch again.

"Yes?" Hotch said, wanting her to continue as he didn't quite know what she meant by what she was saying.

"Well... John... my baby's father... well what if that happened to him? I mean I haven't seen him since Italy... what if I broke him and I spent all these years thinking about myself when it was him who was in trouble?" Emily whispered, looking back at Hotch with a tear in her eye.

"Hey... don't think like that, you done what was best for you and that's what matters!" He replied, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Yea but... that's the problem, I done what's best for me... I didn't think of anyone else... my friend Matthew, he's the only person who stood by me the whole time I was in Italy and now I'm here and he's probably injecting himself with something on a street corner... I couldn't deal with ruining two lives; I barely managed to forgive myself for ruining his!" She said, letting another tear escape as she spoke.

"Emily you listen to me." Hotch said, staring at her intently. "What happened in Italy fourteen years ago is in the past... what happened to Matthew is not your fault and as for John, he had as much a part in things as you did yet he didn't want to help you through so he doesn't deserve you worrying about him... It's in the past and it's never going to be mentioned again... understand?" Hotch finished firmly.

"Uh huh." Emily said with a watery smile. "Thanks Hotch."

"Any time Emily, any time." He replied, before motioning for another round of drinks for the pair.

The rest of the evening went quietly, neither said much, the odd time talking about a past case either had or about anything else topical but most of the evening went in silence, neither really in the mood for talking.

Emily anyway was more intent on drowning her sorrows, and judging by the amount of beer she was downing she was doing a fine job of it as well.

"Emily." Hotch called quietly at twelve o clock. "I think you've had enough." He said, motioning to the six empty beer bottles that littered the table.

"I'm fin'!" Emily replied in a slight slur.

"Of course you are, now come on." Hotch said, helping her up of her seat and holding out her jacket do she could slip it on.

She did this with some difficulty, almost tripping when she stood and missing her left sleeve on the first attempt , but Hotch still managed to get her out of the bar... supported on his side... within ten minutes.

Once out in the surprisingly cold night breeze Hotch felt Emily huddle closer to him as he walked towards his car.

Once at the car Hotch propped Emily up between the car and his body as he looked for his car keys... not that she really needed it, as she'd always been able to hold her drink and the crisp breeze had probably sobered her up slightly.

"I love you, you know." Emily said suddenly, staring into Hotch's eyes.

"Uh... I love you too Emily." Hotch said, stopping his search for car keys once she spoke, but keeping his eyes firmly on his jacket, afraid to look Emily in the face.

"No I don't mean a platonic kind of love silly... I mean I love you, like I'm jealous of Haley and wish you were mine kind of love." Emily replied, never taking her eyes of Hotch.

There was a moment of silence in which the noises of the Chicago night seemed to drown away and all that was left was the sound of him and Emily breathing, as Hotch processed what she'd just said.

"I know..." Hotch whispered after a moment, finally lifting his head up to look Emily in the eye.

"What?" She replied in shock... whatever reply she'd been expecting that had not been it... getting shouted at maybe, or even laughed at, but not what he'd just said.

"I know what you meant Emily... but I can't." Hotch sighed, "I'm not my father, and I couldn't do that to Haley." He finished sadly, looking away again.

"I'm sorry I said that." Emily said after a moment. "I knew nothing would ever happen, I just... It must be the alcohol speaking." She finished lamely, also looking away.

There was a moment of awkward silence, neither knowing what to say to make it go away.

"You know, there's a taxi stop right round the corner." Emily mumbled, trying to move away from Hotch suddenly.

"No Em, it's ok, I'll give you a lift." Hotch said, not wanting her to go off on her own.

"Aaron, you really don't have to... I think things are awkward enough already." Emily replied, finally breaking away from Hotch's grip and walking briskly away.

"Emily, Emily, EMILY." Hotch roared after her as she moved further and further away.

She ignored him though... as much as she wanted to run back and jump into his arms she knew she couldn't... she doubted she'd ever be able to again.

So instead of turning back to the man she loved who was now standing watching her leave with a tear in his eye, she walked away, tears flowing freely down the side of her face.

* * *

Ah the drama! Ok don't hate me too much for that because I will make it better I promise (though there is one or two more bad chapters before that happens). Ok so I'm going to go now before ya'll get to angry... review it please =)


	8. Broken Hearted

Ok so awkward is the word I'm going to use to describe this chapter (which will only be short)... Emily and Hotch meet for the first time since the Chicago incident at a diner function.

It's the autumn of 2003, Emily is 32 and Hotch is 37.

* * *

I never knew until that moment how bad it could hurt to lose something you never really had. – From the television show _The Wonder Years._

* * *

Emily walked reluctantly into the ballroom, her hand holding on to that of her date for the evening, Jonny Monroe from the cafe across the street from the bureau.

They weren't officially dating... and they never would be due to Jonny's love of model train sets and adult T.V channels, not what Emily looked for in a guy... though he served a purpose, he was smoking hot and that's exactly what Emily needed for tonight.

It wasn't that she was shallow in any way... I mean she'd dated 'Pastry Paul' when she was in sixth grade... but she needed a hot guy to make Hotch jealous... and yes she did know how monumentally sad that sounded but she had to do this for her sanity's sake!

Since the 'Chicago incident'... as she now referred to it as... her and Hotch had stopped writing, they'd send birthday and Christmas cards but never letters, and it had really hurt Emily to think something she'd said while drunk had been enough to ruin their friendship... but it had and she needed to move on.

This evening was a charity event in which all important members of the FBI were invited, the BAU of course were top of the list and due to her political background she was close behind them... this meant a high possibility of running into Hotch and in order to do that without looking awkward she needed to look like she'd moved on at least... that was where Jonny came in!

Once she stepped into the ball room she done a quick scan of the people around her and immediately spotted Hotch standing in the corner talking to his team... typical!

What was even worse however was that standing beside him was none other than Haley... and her and Hotch were holding hands! This immediately caused a bubble of anger to rise in Emily, but she pushed it down, not wanting to let Hotch ruin what would hopefully be a god night.

She began to mingle like she'd been taught to as a child, dragging Jonny along behind her, telling him to keep his mouth shut and look smart.

It was inevitable however... after an hour or so of circling the room, trying her best to avoid Hotch and his team, Jonny said he wanted a drink and since he'd kept quiet for a whole hour she agreed... plus all this sneaking around was making her thirsty.

She stood at the bar and waited for the barman to arrive with her drink... Jonny had already left with his drink, not really wanting to stand at a bar and listen to her talk to another important person... and for a moment she let her guard down and just enjoying the fact that no one was talking to her.

That silence was too good to last though.

"Hi." Came a quiet voice from behind her that she immediately recognised.

"Hey, Aaron." She said, no longer feeling comfortable saying 'Hotch' but still inwardly cringing at the use of his first name as she turned around.

"So how's things?" Hotch asked awkwardly as he ordered drinks.

"Uh, things are good... I'm working in the Midwest now... It's a desk job, but it's fun." She said as she picked up her drink from the barman and paid him, wishing he'd stay longer to give her a distraction.

"Oh right... so is that your boy friend I seen with you earlier?" Hotch asked staring across the room to where Jonny was standing and feeling a bubble of jealousy rise within him.

"No he's just a friend of mine." Emily said, deciding to tell Hotch the truth.

At this comment Hotch felt the jealousy calm a little... this was ridiculous, he shouldn't still be hung up on Emily, he'd rejected her what more did it take!

"So how's Haley?" Emily asked awkwardly... not sure if the woman that made her insanely jealous was a smart thing to be talking about.

At this comment Hotch knew how to get over Emily... He was going to despise himself afterwards but it needed to be done in order for him to stay sane and keep thought's of her out of his head... he was going to have to make her get over him! I mean he obviously couldn't get over her.

"Haley? Oh things are actually really, really good now." Hotch started, mentally kicking himself for each lying word he uttered. "We're actually trying for a kid now." He added, now officially feeling like shit.

He actually seen it... he didn't think it possible but he actually seen it happen... seen the look on her face and in her eyes... he seen Emily Prentiss's heart break and knowing it was him that had done it broke his as well.

"Why?" Emily asked, looking Hotch straight in the eye, her voice wavering a bit as she spoke.

"Why what?" Hotch asked, trying with all his might to play dumb when all he wanted to do was scoop a now broken Emily into his arms and beg for her forgiveness.

"Why say that when you know how I feel?" She elaborated, trying with all her might to hold back the tears.

Hotch took a deep breath... he really didn't want to say what he was going to say next... but in order to continue his life without constantly thinking of her he knew he needed to.

"Because I never loved you back." He stated plainly, lying through his teeth and trying to ignore the look of despair in her eyes and the ache in his heart.

"Oh..." Emily breathed after a moment, suddenly feeling like she'd been hit by a speeding train.

She looked Hotch in the eye once more before turning on her heel and walking out as calmly as possible, not even trying to look for Jonny.

Once sitting back in her car she finally let the tears flow... down her cheeks and onto her dress, silent shimmering tears, falling for the man she loved.

* * *

Wow if you didn't hate me before you should now! Ok REALLY sorry about how long that took to write but I had a mad week at school plus writing something that involves Emily getting hurt like this isn't my idea of fun so I had to mentally prepare myself to! Tell me what you though... oh and things can only get better after that chapter so don't worry...lol.


	9. Meeting Again

Right now we're in 2006 when Emily joins the team, I think you can all guess why Hotch is so cold towards her now... well my version of why!

Disclaimer: Ok 90% of the dialogue in this is from "Lesson's Learned", but it's my spin on things so it shouldn't be to repetitive.

Its 2006 Emily is 35 and Hotch is 40.

* * *

"Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends." - Richard Bach.

* * *

Emily took a deep breath... what she was about to do was... well to say the least risky.

She honestly didn't know why she was putting herself through this, sure she wanted the job more than anything she'd ever wanted in her life... well except one thing, but that thing had made it clear he didn't want her... but now she was about to face Hotch for the first time in three years and she really wasn't sure how he'd react... though badly came to mind right away.

She knocked cautiously on the office door and once she heard him welcome her in she took a deep breath and opened the door, barley resisting the urge to run back to the safety of her car.

"Agent Hotchner." She greeted in the warmest voice she could manage... she wanted to show him that what happened three years ago hadn't effected her in the slightest... even though it'd almost killed her inside.

Hotch looked up from his work once he heard the familiar voice greet him. Holy crap it was her!

"I'm Agent Emily Prentiss." Emily added, trying to show Hotch that she knew they weren't friends and that she wanted to keep things professional.

"Yes, how do you do?" Hotch asked, quickly getting over the shock of seeing her after all this time, and deciding to act as professionally as possible. "Oh you're Ambassador Prentiss's daughter, I did security detail for her, I believe you were off to... Brown at the time." He added, trying to think of a university that wasn't Yale.

"Actually it was Yale." Emily corrected him, knowing he knew that but deciding to play his game. "I've been in the Bureau almost ten years now."

"Wow." Hotch whispered... he couldn't believe it had been ten years since he'd hugged Emily for getting into the FBI... and now they never spoke! "Has it been that long?" He said slightly louder, starting t feel petty for pretending he didn't know her, now trying to mend bridges.

"Apparently sir... but I've worked mostly in the Midwest, St Luis, Chicago." Emily replied, she knew he was trying to get into a more personal conversation but she couldn't let him... she couldn't let herself be drawn in by him, especially if there was a chance of him hurting her again.

"Your parents well?" Hotch asked, trying again to steer things back to a place where he could ask for her forgiveness.

Despite how narrow minded it seemed he desperatly wanted her forgivness... he'd hated hurting her like that and he wanted to make sure she was ok.

"Yea... yea they're great." Emily said, tempted to take his bait, but resisting, instead hoping just to leave with a job and her dignity intact.

"Great..." Hotch said, not able to think of another way to get her to open up so deciding to stop trying. "What can I do for you?" He asked suddenly, realising that after what had happened three years ago she wasn't likely just to drop by and say hello, so she must want something.

"Uh... well I guess I was hoping you could tell me where I could put my stuff." Emily replied, really wanting just to leave the room and go to her desk.

"Sorry?" Hotch said... this was a joke right? He couldn't work with Emily Prentiss... he was still trying to get over his feelings for her... this certainly wouldn't help!

"I'm supposed to start here today... at the BAU." Emily said reaching in and taking her papers out of her box... ok pretending not to know her was one thing... letting the fact that she was in love with him stop him from giving her the job of her dreams just wasn't on.

"There's been a mistake." Hotch said, fully aware that something had been mentioned by Strauss about a new team member, which he'd agreed to... if he'd known who it was going to be... well that would have been a different matter.

"I don't think so sir." Emily replied, starting to get annoyed at how childish he was being.

"No there's defiantly been a mistake!" Hotch said again, this time with a little more force... his marriage wasn't going well as things were, with Jack being more of a temporary fix than a permanent one, he couldn't have Emily adding to the mix as well!

"Excuse me, we're getting started." JJ interrupted from the door way, causing both agents to turn quickly to face her.

"Thank you, I'll be right there." Hotch said, signalling to JJ that he wasn't finished talking to Emily. "I didn't approve this transfer Agent Prentiss." He told Emily... that wasn't technically a lie; he didn't officially need to approve it, as long as he gave Strauss the ok to get a new agent he didn't actually need to approve which one was picked. "I'm sorry for the confusion, you've been miss informed." He added, feeling slightly sorry for her as he knew this was her dream job.

Emily went to try and stop him... try and convince him that what happened could be forgotten and that they could work together, but when she reached the door he was already talking to Gideon.

Instead she dragged her feet back to her car and sat there, watching them as they drove off to the air field, all the while trying to think of a way to make him change his mind.

The idea didn't come to her until she was lying in her hotel bed that evening... thankfully she hadn't bought an apartment yet... all she needed to do was prove to Hotch that she really, really wanted this, and then hope he'd give it to her... surely there friendship would make him do that.

_**Four days later:**_

Emily walked into the FBI building and over to June at reception... who she'd become rather friendly with in the last four days.

"Hey June, are-" She started.

"They arrive in an hour or so Emily, so go on, go get that job." June said with a reassuring smile.

~.~.~.~

"Please tell me you haven't been there for the last four days." Hotch said the second he came through the door and seen Emily sitting on the sofa, partly worried for her well being and partly freaked out by this stalker like behaviour.

"I heard you were flying back tonight." She replied, not wanting to worry him... well really she'd heard they'd be here at lunch time but she wasn't going to split airs about something like that.

"Heard, how... how could you have heard a thing like that?" Hotch asked, but answering his own question when he realised that June down at reception had their flight times.

"This was dropped off today." Emily said, handing Hotch a case file and avoiding his question, knowing he probably already had the answer.

"I appreciate your interest agent, but profiling is a specialty, we can't just let anyone who wants to give it a whirl." Hotch reasoned, hoping that Emily was one of the 'give it a whirl' people, but knowing that Emily Prentiss never done something lightly.

"The I-80 killer... co-ed's in Indiana." Emily said, referring to the case file Hotch had just received, fully intending to impress him.

"Yes I read it on the plane." Hotch said, not looking up because he knew she was about to give him a profile... and that was another reason she should be on the damn team.

"They aren't blitz attacks, this guy's organised. He's a white male, early thirties, and a smooth talker, because even after eleven victims, he can still convince educated women who know there's a predator out there to get into his car." She said quickly, hopping she would impress.

"How would you advise the police?" Hotch asked, hating to admit that he was stunned by how much her profile resembled the one he'd thought up on the plane... Damn!

"I would stake out the ranch house, a night club in Gary, they have a very popular ladies night on Thursday's. If you look closely you'll see that eight out of the eleven victims went missing on a Friday morning, so something gets this creeps motor running on Thursday's." Emily replied, trying yet again to impress.

Hotch was stunned. He had to admit she was pretty damn good... not that he'd expect anything less... but now he was stuck.

They'd been an agent down since Elle and they really did need help, and she was qualified, if not overly.

"This isn't a 'whirl' Agent Hotchner, I don't know how the paper work got screwed up, or maybe you believe my parents pulled some strings, which they didn't by the way. I belong in this unit, and all I'm asking you for is the chance to show you that." She practically begged, praying that she'd done enough to sway him.

"I still need to look into this... I'm not promising anything." Hotch said, not sure whether or not he'd be able to keep her on the team... his peace of mind may not allow it.

"Understood." Emily replied quickly, knowing she was about to hear what she wanted to.

"We brief new cases every morning at ten am; you can see facilities management about a desk." Hotch said, instead of giving her a straight answer.

"You won't be sorry." Emily breathed; wanting to do a cartwheel she was that happy.

Hotch watched as Emily Prentiss left his office. Once she was out of sight he sighed in defeat and sat at his desk... Emily Prentiss was back in his life, and if he'd had trouble forgetting her before, be certainly would now.

~.~.~.~

Emily sat in her car with a smile plastered all over her face. She'd done it, she'd gotten into the BAU... she was back in Aaron Hotchner's life and that's where she was planning on staying for as long as he'd have her.

* * *

There, my version of Emily joining the team... hope you liked it. =) tell me what you thought!


	10. Choices

Ok so this is the episode "In Name and Blood"... It's after the episode takes place and it's again my version of what happened.

It's early October of 2007, Emily is 36 (It's a few days before her birthday) and Hotch is 41.  
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Consider what you think justice requires, and decide accordingly. But never give your reasons; for your judgment will probably be right, but your reasons will certainly be wrong. – Lord Mansfield.  
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Emily sighed as she gazed out the window of her apartment, hugging herself tightly as means of comfort.

She'd had a long couple of days and she'd made three important choices... two of which she promised her she'd never make for the reasons she had.

Her first choice had been resigning rather than whisper in Strauss's ear. This in itself would from most perspectives look like the loyal and good thing to do and it had been partly, if not mostly because she'd never grass on people she seen as family... the problem was however that hadn't been her sole reason for doing it.

She'd not been happy... well she had, but not in the way she thought she should be... because she'd been getting brushed off by Hotch ever since she'd joined the team and despite the fact that she loved her job, she really couldn't stand him ignoring her.

Despite that fact she still couldn't bring herself to dish the dirt even on him... it was ridiculous after the pain that he'd caused her but still when the job in the state department had come up she knew she could take that way out rather that mess up his job.

That had been her first choice, and as she moved towards her fridge to get enough ice-cream to permanently freeze her brain she thought of her second choice.

As she stood in her kitchen she could almost feel a sense of déjà vu as she thought back to when he had knocked on her door and asked her to get on that plane with him.

She could have said no, sat the Foreign Service exam and left... but life was never that simple and she'd known the second she'd looked through her peep hole and seen him standing there, that he was going to sway her decision... and the worst part was she hadn't even wanted to stop him.

She made the choice to get on the plane for all the wrong reasons and she'd known that deep down, but she'd ignored it... being swayed by the fact that he was standing there, on her door step, asking for her help after almost a year of ignoring her and giving her the cold shoulder.

As she went and sat on her couch, gallon tub of ice-cream in hand, she reached up and felt the plaster on her head and thought to the third choice she'd made that day.

She'd chosen to risk her life to save the school nurse and she'd not even given it a thought. She'd known then that despite the fact that Hotch had swayed her decision, she belonged in the FBI and the BAU for that matter, because despite her upbringing, catching the bad guys was in her blood, it was what she was programmed to do... and she wouldn't have it any other way.

She turned on her T.V to some programme about doctors who spent more time sleeping with each other than saving lives, but even with the sound of the T.V she couldn't help but think of the effect her choices would have... because every action has its consequence.

Most people would now say that after making these decisions she was back to where she had been at the start of the day... an FBI agent who loved her job but loved her boss more... no real achievement in those choices.

But to her she'd achieved so much more. She'd gotten Strauss of her back... for now... and she'd finally managed to get Aaron Hotchner's seal of approval, something she was sure would make working with the man she loved a whole lot easier.

~.~.~.~

Hotch walked into his house and looked around him... there was something not quite right about the silence in the room... he did have an eighteen month year old son after all!

"Haley?" He called quietly as he walked to the dining room, knowing she wasn't going to answer.

He walked up the stairs next and into his room. The bed was empty as were the drawers that once held her clothes.

Hotch sighed... he should have seen this one coming, he was a profiler after all... and truthfully he had in some respects seen what was happening, the mysterious dead phone call three days previous had been conformation of that.

He walked back down stairs slowly and went through the dining room, heading to the kitchen to pour himself an extra large scotch, when he seen an envelope sitting on the dining room table that he must have missed the first time.

He walked over and cautiously picked it up... you'd swear it was a bomb he was lifting... gently tearing it open and pulling out the carefully hand written, letter inside.

_Dear Aaron,_

_I know you've figured out by now that I'm gone, and this time I'm afraid it's for good. I've taken Jack with me and I'm staying at Jessica's for now... though you've probably got that figured out by now as well._

_I'm sure you think you know why I'm gone as well, and while our tense relationship and your job was part of the reason for my leaving, there's a far bigger reason that's been in the picture almost constantly for the last number of years. That reason is... and I know it sounds pathetic and childish... Emily Prentiss._

_I know she was (and maybe still is) one of your best friends and I also know that due to the hurt your father caused your family, and because of Jack, that you'd never actually intentionally cheat on me, but you have, and I don't mean physically, but mentally. I know I'm not a profiler like you, but I've seen the looks you've sent her without even realising it and I don't know if you've realised this but she'd been sending you the same looks._

_I know I shouldn't have, but today I followed you once you left and I seen you going into her building, so I waited, and I seen you leaving with her for your plane. The saddest part of all this? I wasn't surprised in the slightest that she was the first person you went to, even before you went to the office._

_I know I've no right t lecture you on this because, as you've probably already guessed, I haven't been, being faithful recently, and I swear to you; today with the phone call is not the way I wanted you to find out, because yes I was going to tell you. His name was Joel, and no I didn't love him, he was simply there for me when you weren't. _

_I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart for what I've done and I hope that for the sake of our son you can forgive me. I also want you to know that I do still love you, even though it may not seem that way, and that even though I see no going back to the way we were when, or even before we got married, I hope we can one day be friends again._

_All my love,_

_Haley._

Hotch read and re-read the letter to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him... even though he knew that really this was going to happen sometime.

He eventually sighed and slumped into one of the dining room chairs.

He was to say the least distraught by what had happened, Haley was gone and had taken his son with her... and despite the fact he hadn't been committed to the marriage for a while now... choosing work over Haley being the most recent example of that... he hadn't expected things to end like this.

He read the letter one last time before crumpling it up and throwing it with as much force as he could, sending it hurdling across the room.

She was really gone, all because he'd chosen work over her... no that wasn't one hundred percent true... she was gone because he'd chosen Emily Prentiss over her and work.

But thinking back to when he'd gone to her apartment three days ago, it was a choice that if he had to, he'd do exactly the same next time... and that's what shocked him the most... that after the lengths he'd gone to, to push her away, he still chose her over his wife.

That, he thought as he went to the kitchen to get a scotch, was a choice he was going to have to live with.  
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There we go. I didn't really like the ending, but it's all I've got. I pinkie promise y'all that the next chapter will be up sometime this weekend cause I've already started it... YAY!

If any of you're wondering what the phone incident is about, in this episode, at the start, Hotch is talking to Haley and the phone rings so he answers it and the line goes dead so he puts it down and then two seconds later Haley's mobile begins to ring and all I'm saying was that it looked suspicious.

Tell me what you thought. =)


	11. Promises

Ok so this is just after the team find out Hotch and Haley are getting a divorce and Emily is to say the least pissed off that Hotch didn't tell her first.

It's December of 2007, Emily's 37 and Hotch is 42.  
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"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love." – Mother Teresa.  
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It had been a weird couple of weeks... with Gideon leaving and Rossi joining the team no one had really noticed that Hotch had been acting oddly as well... but she had.

It wasn't a weird she was going to complain about however, because he was finally... after a year of praying on her part... starting to warm to her, ever since the whole incident with Strauss... or so she thought.

He'd been a bit weird for a few weeks after, but Emily guessed that there was a bit of tension between him and Haley when he got his job back, but after a while he'd started to come out of his shell and go for drinks with the team... even going as far as to go out with only her for drinks after the Katie Jacobs case.

Yes she'd defiantly thought things were getting better... she was even starting to think they were friends again... but after what had just happened she wasn't so sure.

She wish she'd never asked what was in the package... they did say ignorance is bliss after all... but she had and now she couldn't help but feel angry that he hadn't told her... he owed her that at least didn't he?

The team had decided to stay behind and do paper work after Hotch had told them what the package was for... none of them really wanted to go out when Hotch was so miserable, and fifteen or so minutes after they'd sat back down Hotch had come back in and locked himself in his office.

Emily just couldn't focus though. No matter how hard she tried to stop them, her eyes kept darting back up to his office, to where the blinds were partly drawn.

She knew she wouldn't be able to rest unless she said or done something so after another hour of agonising contemplation she finally decided to bite the bullet , standing up from her desk and making her way up the, suddenly daunting, steps to his office door.

She looked back at the bullpen one last time before she went in and wasn't surprised to see looks off horror on the faces of Morgan and Reid, but she ignored them and knocked briskly on the door, with a little more force than she'd intended.

After a moment she heard a voice call her in so she pushed open the door and, after a moment of hesitation, closed it briskly behind her.

"I really don't want to talk right now Prentiss." Hotch said with a defeated sigh once he looked up and seen who it was.

"You know what they say... a problem shared is a problem halved." Emily replied with the slightest hint of sarcasm.

"Prentiss what seems to be the problem here?" Hotch snapped, picking up on her sarcasm immediately.

"Don't 'Prentiss' me Aaron, you know what the problem is." Emily snapped as she took a step closer.

"No I don't Agent Prentiss, so unless you care to fill me in I suggest you get back to work." Hotch snapped again, raising his voice as he was more than a little pissed off that Emily of all people was talking to him like this after what had happened today.

"You really don't know why I'm pissed at you?" Emily asked, a little calmer than before, taking another step forward.

"No I really don't have a clue, so please feel free to fill me in." Hotch replied, also calmer now that Emily wasn't as angry.

"After what's happened... and you still didn't tell me." Emily said, for the first time sounding hurt.

"It was none of your business." Hotch retorted, knowing immediately what she was talking about.

"Maybe so... but after what we've been through... after all the things I told you in Chicago about my childhood... and how I feel, you didn't think 'oh Emily might want to know this.'?" She asked, slightly angry again.

"Emily." Hotch started soothingly. "What happened in Chicago... that was seven years ago... you don't still feel the same do you?" Hotch asked, slightly shocked, after how cruel he'd been to her.

Emily swallowed hard... it was either now or never, she wasn't drunk like last time and he was now single... what had she too loose? Oh yea... her career!

"Aaron of course I feel the same way I did then! I've tried to turn off the part of me that loves you but... I can't, no matter how many date's I go on or how many guys ask me out I always find flaws in them because deep down I don't want them, I want you... it's always been you and even after what you said to me at that dinner party, it always will be you, so I'm sorry Hotch but yea I do still feel the same way." She finished, closing her eyes and bracing herself for his response.

But his angry, hurtful words never came, instead she heard him get up and felt his presence beside her and she opened her eyes to see him standing inches from her face.

"Emily Prentiss." He started. "You're by far the most exceptional person that I've ever met and there's no need to be sorry for feeling the same way that you did back then, because truth be told... so do I... I love you Emily, I think I always have and I've been running from that because it was complicated... but I do love you Emily I always have and I always will." He informed the woman in front of him who was now almost in tears.

"Really?" she whispered, trying not to cry.

"Really, and I'd love for something to happen someday Emily really I would... but right now, I'm not ready, and I'm not able to give you the relationship that you deserve, but if you wait for me, I promise you with my heart and soul that I will." Hotch said, just as quietly, looking down.

"Aaron Hotchner, if you haven't realised yet that I would wait from now until forever for you, you really need your head checked." Emily said after a moment, giving Hotch a bright smile which he returned, showing both dimples.

At this comment Hotch swept Emily into a hug, planting a kiss in her hair as he did so.

They broke away after a moment and Emily gave Hotch an almost shy smile.

"I better get back to work or everyone will wonder where I am." She murmured, not wanting to leave.

"Yea, we wouldn't want them thinking we're discussing out future." Hotch teased.

With that Emily practically skipped to the door before stopping and walking out it professionally, not wanting to raise eyebrows, feeling the urge to do a cartwheel down the steps thanks to the promise that's just been made.

Hotch sat back down at his desk and the smile that's previously been on his face disappeared as he eyed the divorce papers once again... despite the promise that had just been made, he had a tough couple of weeks ahead of him.  
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See... thinks back on track! Oh and the Katie Jacobs case is from the episode "Seven Seconds" just if any of you were wondering. Tell me your thoughts please. =)


	12. New Begining?

Ok so this is from the episode "Damaged" again after the show ends. Hotch just signed his papers and goes to talk to Emily.

It's April of 2008. Emily's 37, Hotch is 42.  
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"What appears to be the end may really be a new beginning." – Author Unknown.  
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Hotch signed his name on the dotted line and leant back in his seat, contemplating what effects this would have on things.

He looked out his window and seen Emily sit at her desk with some papers, and knew he needed to tell her what he'd just done... not yet though, right now he needed to get his own mind straightened out.

He knew things would be difficult as he was still angry at Haley for cheating and he knew she was still mad at him for going to work... but he had other things to think about right now... like his son and his future with Emily.

An hour... or maybe more... later, Hotch finally stood from his chair, looked down at the papers one more time and sighed before looking out his office window into the bullpen.

Seeing that the room was empty he knew that Emily was back at her apartment, so he packed his bag quickly and headed out the door and towards the elevator.

Twenty minutes later he found himself on her door step, knocking on her door, not really remembering the car journey, being more preoccupied by what he was planning on saying and doing once Emily let him in.

~.~.~.~

Emily had just begun her post work ritual and after she placed her glass of wine on the table and sat on her sofa she picked up her remote to play 'Mama Mia' when she heard a knock on her door.

She looked at the clock on her wall and once she seen that it was after nine she knew it could only be one person, so she stood, wrapping her sofa's throw around her for warmth and walked towards the door, checking the peep hole first out of habit before opening the door.

"May I come in?" Hotch asked, almost nervously.

"Of course you can." Emily replied with a small smile, stepping aside and granting Hotch access to her kitchen come living room. "Would you like a glass of wine?" She asked as she stood and watched him walk into the room and sit on the sofa.

"Uh yea thanks." Hotch muttered as he sat down, not making eye contact with Emily.

As Emily poured another glass of wine from the already open bottle, she kept her eyes trained on Hotch... knowing that he had something on his mind, but not entirely sure what... though after what Reid had told her about interview earlier she had a fair idea.

"So what brings you here at this hour?" Emily inquired, once she placed the wine glass in front of Hotch and sat down beside him.

"I uh... signed the papers today." He said quietly, not looking up from the wine glass on the table.

"Oh... that must have been hard for you." Emily stated quietly, reaching out an arm to comfort him as she spoke, not really knowing what else to say or do.

"Uh yea, it was a bit, but I knew I had to do it... and I'm ready to move on now." Hotch said, for the first time looking Emily in the eye.

Emily knew this would be coming... after what Reid had told her today, she'd guessed it would only be a matter of time before he spoke to her.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked cautiously, not wanting to push Hotch away.

"Yes I am... and I'd like to move on with you Emily." He said firmly, though Emily seen right through it.

"Hotch." She said after a moment. "I know you think you're ready but... what if you're not?" She asked carefully.

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked back after a moment.

"Don't get me wrong, I love you and I'd love if we could have a future together but... I was talking to Reid today, after we got back from the case... and he told me that you weren't getting what you wanted in the divorce... and that tells me you're not ready yet." Emily told him, hoping she wasn't making him angry.

"Emily... what I wanted in the divorce I'm not going to get anyway." Hotch confessed.

"Exactly, and I don't think you've fully accepted that, and until you do... you're not ready for a relationship... don't get me wrong, I'm here to talk to you no matter when, but until you have your issues sorted, you'd only be hurting yourself by getting involved with me... or anyone else." Emily said soothingly.

There was an awkward silence in the room after Emily finished talking... Hotch was processing what she'd said and Emily was sitting in anticipation for his response.

"You're right you know... I didn't get what I wanted in the divorce." Hotch whispered eventually. "She wouldn't admit that she cheated on me... it said the reasons for divorce was that my job tore us apart... and as true as that was, she still wouldn't take any of the blame." He added almost bitterly.

"I'm so sorry H- Aaron." Emily whispered, placing a hand on his knee as a silent form of support, knowing anything more intimate could send him mixed signals, especially in his current state.

"I'm the one who should be sorry." Hotch sighed eventually.

"Sorry for what?" Emily asked in confusion.

"Sorry for dumping all that on you... I shouldn't have burdened you with my problems." He clarified.

"Aaron Hotchner... never say that to me again, your problem is my problem, because we may not be getting together now, but encase you've forgotten, you promised me you'd give me the relationship I deserved and when I told you I'd wait from now until forever for that to happen, I wasn't joking, so don't ever feel the need to apologise for something like that again." Emily scolded, causing Hotch to smile for the first time all evening.

"Thank you Emily, really. And I promise you that soon I'll be ready, and you'll be the first person to know when I am." Hotch replied, giving Emily a small smile as he spoke.

"Glad to hear it." Emily joked, leaning over to give Hotch a warm hug.  
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Finally got that chapter finished... I was half ways through it when my laptop got a virus and it shut down completely (giving me a small panic attack) but thanks to my mum's friend (who is like the male version of Garcia) it's all better now so I'm back to writing again... YAY! Tell me what you thought. =)


	13. Changing slowly

Ok so this is after the episode's Lo-Fi and Mayhem. Emily realises she could have lost Hotch and they talk again about their relationship.

It's May of 2008. Emily's 37, Hotch is 42.  
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We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you." – Jeff Warner.  
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Emily smiled as she walked away from Agent Coopers room. She was glad to see that he was ok and happy to know that he was after all a Mets fan and that she'd given him the right tickets, but she had bigger fish to fry, and not very long to fry them.

She walked quickly down the corridor and out of the hospital doors, making a bee line for her SUV, wanting to make it back to the hotel as quickly as possible.

While talking to Cooper she'd realised that the events of the last few days could have spelt the end for either her or Hotch and yet here they were, tip toeing around each other since he'd signed his papers instead of grasping the possibility of a relationship with both hands.

Before she realised that her feet had carried her this far, she found herself standing outside the door of Hotch's hotel room, knocking on his door.

After a minute, just as she was about to turn and leave, guessing he had already gone, she heard movement behind the door and a second later the door opened to reveal a less than perfect looking Hotch.

He wordlessly stepped aside to let her in and as he closed the door behind her Emily took the opportunity to get a good look at him.

His tie had been loosened and the top button of his shirt was open, and from the redness of his eyes and the fact that they were a shade darker than normal... something that she'd noticed happened to Hotch's eyes after he'd been crying... she could tell Kate's death had affected him more than he'd let on to the team.

Once he turned to face her she done the only thing she felt was right in this situation, and closed the gap between them, pulling him into a warm hug and burying her face into his neck.

She could feel his barriers drop and after a long moment she felt him give a defeated sigh and she then slowly moved him towards the couch in the room, her arms still around his waist.

"I'm sorry about what happened." Emily whispered once they were sitting, keeping one hand on Hotch's upper leg as a means of silent support.

"Thanks." Hotch replied, equally as quiet, as he picked up her free hand which had been resting by her side.

"Are you ok?" Emily asked, staring down at her small hand, which was almost fully covered my Hotch's larger one.

"Mhm... I am now." He replied as he began to trace over Emily's knuckles with his thumb. "I'm just glad we're both here... and okay." He added, making subtle reference to the fact that it could have been Emily that rounded that corner first and not Cooper.

"So am I." Emily agreed, as she allowed herself to get slightly carried away by the soft strokes of Hotch's hand against her knuckle.

"You know... when I was looking at Kate... in the theatre, and on the street, I couldn't stop imagining that it was you there and not her... and it was really scaring me." Hotch confessed quietly after a while.

"I couldn't help but think that Cooper was you as well." Emily whispered, remembering how scared she'd been in that alley.

"Emily..." Hotch began, looking deep into her eye's and allowing Emily to see all the emotion that was brimming in his own. "I could have died."

"I know." Emily whispered, feeling the emotion rise within her as she thought about a life without Hotch in it.

"I could have died, yet all I've been able to think about since then is the fact that if I had died, I'd never have gotten to take you to dinner." He said.

"Are you asking me on a date Aaron Hotchner?" Emily asked, the faintest smile playing on her lips.

"Sort of." Hotch replied, which caused Emily's brow to furrow. "I mean I am." Hotch clarified once he seen the confused look on Emily's face. "Just not yet... not until we're back in DC and the team is settled again... this was a tough case." He finished.

Emily nodded her head in agreement.

It had defiantly been a tough case, with Hotch almost dying, her almost getting shot and Morgan almost blowing himself up... not to mention the fact that JJ was pregnant... it probably wasn't the best time to be making any big plans.

"Though I'd like to go out to dinner once things get back to normal." He asked, with a small smile.

"Well in that case how can I refuse?" Emily joked, feeling happiness swell inside her.

"I was hoping that would be your answer." Hotch said also smiling.

It was then that Emily decided that it was now or never, and she leaned over, intending to give him a small kiss. She was stopped however by a hand coming between their mouths.

"I'm sorry, I didn't... I'm sorry." She stuttered, feeling a blush rising in her cheeks once she realised that Hotch may not have reached the stage of wanting to kiss her... even if it had been eighteen years.

"No, no, there's no need to be sorry." Hotch said quickly. "I just... ok this may sound ridiculous, but I just don't want to ruin what we may have by jumping into things to fast... because I know you were only intending to kiss me, but believe me when I say that I have to use all my restraint not to kiss you now... and do a lot more besides, and I don't want a 'quickie' in a hotel room to be the start of our relationship, because you're so much more than a 'fling' or a 'quickie' Emily." He informed her, hoping that she'd understand.

"You may not believe this," Emily said after a brief moment, tears rising in her eyes, "but that is the by far one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me."

"Well you better get used to it sweetheart." Hotch said, giving her a small kiss on the fore head before he stood up. "Well we better get ready to leave, you have a plane to catch." He reminded her.

"Mhm, and you have a fun car ride home... Are you sure you don't wasn't me to drive you?" Emily asked as she to stood up.

"No, as much as I'd love the company, I think I'll be sleeping for most of the trip thanks to the damn pills the doctor gave me, so I wouldn't be much fun." Hotch told her.

"Ok... see you in DC then." Emily said, giving him another quick hug before heading out the door to her room, a huge smile set firmly in place.  
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Right so there we go, as the title said, things are changing slowly now. Tell me what you thought.


	14. Quarrels and plans

Ok so this is around the events of the episode "Minimal Loss". By the way, Hotch and Emily still haven't gone on that date yet.

So it's October 2008, Emily is 37 and Hotch is 42.  
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"A quarrel between friends, when made up, adds a new tie to friendship." – Saint Francis de Sales.  
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Hotch let out the breath he'd been holding for almost three days now once he seen her emerge from the building... sure she was beat up a little, but nothing some TLC couldn't fix, and that was exactly what he was intending to give her.

He wanted to go and hug her as she walked down the steps, looking so vulnerable, but he seen her turn and call for Reid, and he knew that she wouldn't want any comfort, not until both Reid and Morgan were out safely.

He watched her as she ran up the steps to hug Reid and he was again overwhelmed, not only because all his agents had made it out ok, but also because he knew that if something had happened to Reid she'd never be able to forgive herself, and neither would he.

He looked around and seen that everyone but Jessica had made it out, he then looked and saw her mother staring right at them... he wanted to console her but he could tell from the way Emily was also looking at her that she wanted to talk to her on her own so he left, followed by the rest of the team.

He watched from a distance as she tried to talk to Jessica's mother, eventually just walking away as the events of the last three days hit her and she was overcome with drowsiness and pain, that she'd probably been ignoring, or trying to fight off for the sake of her survival.

He hovered over the ambulance as the medic treated her minor injuries, something that didn't go unnoticed by her as she shot him an "I'm fine and I'm not going to fall apart" look as the medic dressed one of her particularly bad wounds.

The second the medic told her she was ok and free to go he grabbed her arm and pulled her around to the side of the ambulance, to where they were blocked from view.

He then took hold of her other arm, holding he at arm's length and looking over her himself, as if he was reassessing what the medic had checked.

Whereas normally Emily would protest at being treated like a child, she simply stood quietly, knowing this was something Hotch needed to do for his own sanity, and she quite liked the attention she was getting as well.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He snapped after he'd given her the once over, letting his eye's linger on the bruising on her face before he finally met her eye.

"I was doing what needed to be done to save Reid's life." Emily justified, knowing only too well that Cyrus would have killed Reid.

"By risking your own life in the process?" Hotch almost shouted.

"No I wasn't risking my life... Cyrus didn't value women as much as men, he was going to kill Reid, but he didn't see me as being worthy to kill." Emily tried to reason with him.

"You didn't know that Emily... you could have died!" Hotch whispered, still angry with her, but calming down quickly now that he knew she was going to be ok.

"I know, just like you could have died in New York." Emily shot back, now getting annoyed at how badly he was taking it.

"The difference there being, that I wasn't aware that I could die. You were!" Hotch replied, trying his best not to shout again.

"Oh so you're telling me that if you'd known what was going to happen that you'd have told someone else to get in the SUV instead?" Emily questioned, already knowing the answer.

"No I... no I wouldn't have... I mean... my situation was different." Hotch finally said, already knowing that Emily was right and that he would still have gotten into that SUV rather than risk the life of someone on his team... just like she'd done today with Reid.

"Oh! Well I guess that makes you... oh what's that work I'm looking for? Oh yea, a hypocrite!" Emily snapped sarcastically, giving him a nasty look and daring him to contradict her.

"Oh so you're saying you weren't the least bit angry at me for getting blown up, no matter how irrational?" Hotch snapped back, refusing to give up that easily.

"Well I was pretty pissed at you... but the fear of losing you easily outweighed that." Emily replied, thinking back to when she seen him in the hospital and how she'd wanted to scream at him for discharging himself so quickly, but how she'd refrained only because the team was there.

At this Hotch finally let out a sigh... he had to admit that he was being a little over protective, but not without due cause.

"I was scared... damn it Emily, I couldn't even negotiate with Cyrus I was that scared! I'm sorry for shouting at you... I guess it's just three days of not knowing if you or Reid was going to make it, and I snapped." Hotch confessed quietly.

"Hotch, it's ok to lose it a little... hell I almost killed one of the doctors in New York for letting you discharge yourself... thank god JJ was there to clam me down, and stop the doctor calling security." Emily also confessed, a small smile flickering across her face at the memory.

Hotch also let loose a small dimple at the thought f this, before becoming serious again.

"Just promise you'll never do something like that again." He asked.

"I won't... unless it's necessary." Emily replied, refusing to tell him she'd never do it again, when she knew that if the situation called for it she'd do exactly the same thing without hesitation.

"God you're stubborn!" Hotch said, only half joking.

"And don't you forget it." Emily replied, smiling fully... even though it hurt a little.

"Not that I could even if I wanted to." Hotch laughed, before sobering up and giving her a loving smile.

They stood there for a moment, just staring at each other, before Hotch pulled Emily into a warm hug, wrapping his arms around her slim waist carefully so as not to hurt her freshly dressed wounds.

Emily let him support her weight as she moulded her body into his, wrapping her arms tightly around his back and burying her face into the side of his neck, inhaling deeply and revelling in the smell that was uniquely Hotch.

They stood there silently for a while before Emily felt him place soft kisses on her hairline. She smiled into his neck before tilting her head up and giving him a kiss on the side of his jaw, beside his ear.

"We need to have that dinner sometime soon you know." Hotch murmured into her hair as he stopped kissing her, and instead just relished in the intimate moment they were having.

"Mm... and sometime before one of us dies would be preferable." Emily replied, with the hint of a smile playing on her lips as she resumed her previous position, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Huh... that's the best idea you've had in a while." Hotch joked, as he pulled away slightly to examine her face once more.

"So when do you plan on having our romantic date?" Emily asked teasingly, choosing to ignore his comment about her carelessness, knowing that it was a joke.

"As soon as possible... This Friday, once we get back." He smiled.

"Sounds good to me." Emily replied happily.

"Then it's settled, this Friday... I'll give you the details when I know them myself." Hotch told her, before giving her a light kiss on the tip of her nose.

Before she had a chance to respond the calls of the team could be heard in the distance, getting gradually closer.

"Looks like we're about to get company." Hotch whispered before pulling away, and putting his professional mask back in place.

"Shall you go first or will I?" Emily asked, trying to hide her disappointment at the fact that he was no longer near her.

"You... I'll go around the other side of the ambulance so it doesn't look quite so suspicious... besides I think it's you the team wants to see right now." Hotch told her.

"I suppose... see you later then." Emily said, adding a mischievous wink before walking towards the front of the ambulance.

"You can bet on that." Hotch replied, before walking in the other direction.  
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Done... the next chapter will be about their dinner date, at last... YAY. Tell me what you thought! =)


	15. The Date

Ok so this isn't biased around an episode... this chapter is dedicated to their date... YAY. This chapter is also going to be a happy chapter because even though I didn't particularly want it to be, this story has quite a lot of angst. Lol.

It's still October 2008 and Emily and Hotch are still the same age (though it's two days before Emily's birthday so this sort of doubles as a birthday treat).  
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"If you think there are no new frontiers, watch a boy ring the front doorbell on his first date." – Olin Miller.  
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Hotch knocked on her front door quickly, before standing awkwardly and waiting for her to answer, wishing she'd hurry up, as he felt like a teenager knocking on the door of his girlfriends parents house and asking her out... god he hated that feeling.

He fidgeted a bit more, making sure the sleeves of his crisp white shirt weren't creased and checking that his dark denim jeans didn't have any dirt on them before straightening up and looking at the flowers in his hand to make sure they were ok... yea, cause they were really going to die in the space of ten minutes.

Finally he heard the shuffling of feet, followed by a small banging noise and a curse or two, before some more shuffling and finally the sound of the door being unlocked.

In front of him now stood a breath taking Emily Prentiss.

He'd told her nothing about their date only to dress casually, and she was wearing a pair of dark denim skinny jeans, that showed off just how slender and toned her legs were, and a red and grey checked flannel shirt, that fit her perfectly.

He was so busy taking in her outfit that he barely noticed the still extremely visible bruises on her face which she'd mostly covered with make-up.

"I got you these." Hotch said after a moment, realising that he'd been staring at her chest area for longer than was mannerly.

"Oh thank you, they're lovely." Emily gushed, taking the bunch of Lilies from Hotch and placing them in a vase on the counter, which already had a bit of water in it.

"Well I knew Lilies were your favourite." Hotch told her, almost shyly.

"Well they're really lovely." Emily smiled, as she admired them. "I'll just be a second; my other shoe decided it doesn't want to go out tonight, so it's hidden itself in my closet somewhere." She told him.

This caused Hotch to look to her feet for the first time, and he then noticed that she only had one red heel on her, and that the other foot was bare, except for neon yellow, slightly chipped nail polish.

"Ok sure... but if you don't mind me asking, why do you have bright yellow nail polish on?" Hotch asked, not seeing this as the type of nail polish Emily would buy or wear.

"Garcia, Jayje and I had a girl's night a few days ago." Emily informed, as means of an explanation to him as she walked back towards her room.

Hotch followed her slowly and stood at her bedroom door, unsure of whether or not to come in.

"I don't bite you know." Emily called from inside her wardrobe. "You can come in if you want."

Hotch slowly walked into her room but stopped suddenly when he seen the inside of Emily's wardrobe.

"Oh my god!" He murmured, as he stared in to the never ending walk in wardrobe that seemed to just keep going until you reached Narnia!

"What?" Emily asked, looking up at Hotch briefly to see what the matter was.

"Your wardrobe... It's enormous." He told her, wondering if she'd ever noticed before.

"Oh right... I forgot you'd never seen it before... JJ and Garcia's reactions were exactly the same... well they decided they wanted to live in it, but other than that the same." Emily laughed as she finally pulled out her other red heel. "Right I'm ready to go now." She said happily, adding an eye roll when she seen that Hotch was still staring at her wardrobe.

~.~.~.~.~

"Are we there yet?" Emily asked for what felt like the hundredth time since they'd gotten into the car, twenty minutes ago.

"My god if you say that one more time I'll leave you on the side of the road!" Hotch threatened her teasingly. "We're nearly there." He added, seeing their destination appear in the distance.

"Do I get to find out where 'there' is by any chance?" Emily asked, dying to find out where she was being taken on their elusive first date.

"Yup... it's right here." Hotch said with a smile as he pulled into the car park.

Emily took her eyes of Hotch for the first time since they'd gotten into the car and looked ahead of her, her face immediately lighting up once she seen where they were.

"Oh my god!" She squeaked excitedly. "This is officially the best date ever."

"We haven't even gone in yet." Hotch reminded her, trying his best not to smile smugly at his superb location choice.

"Hotch, you took me to a carnival... believe me when I say the world could end right now and this would be the best date ever... I've always wanted to go to a carnival." Emily told him, looking like an excited five year old.

"Really you've never been to a carnival?" Hotch questioned her, still shocked every time she told him about the simple things she missed out on because of her childhood.

"Yup... never in my life." Emily replied slightly dejected.

"Well that Emily Prentiss is all about to chance." Hotch informed her happily, as he opened his car door and she opened hers.

They stepped out onto the slightly damp ground and walked around to the front of the car, where their eyes met briefly, before they grabbed each other's hands and walked into the carnival together.

Hotch was happy to simply follow Emily around for the next two hours, challenging her to one of the shooting games on a stall and even winning her a stuffed polar bear that was almost as big as she was.

Eventually they both became worn out, so they bought two candyflosses and sat on a bench, where Emily moved as close to Hotch as possible and he wrapped his arm around her waist protectively.

"It's official... this is the best date ever." Emily said contently, as she ate her candyfloss and rested her head on Hotch's shoulder.

"Well before you make your mind up on that one, there's one more thing I want to give you." Hotch told her, reaching into his pocket as he spoke.

Emily looked at him apprehensively as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a present with dinosaur wrapping paper on it.

"Uh... excuse the paper, it's all I have because of Jack, but open it." He prompted her as she just stared at the parcel he'd places in her hand.

Emily tore off the wrapping paper slowly to reveal a small box. She looked up at Hotch with a small smile before lifting the lid off to reveal a small charm bracelet, with five charms, each representing something in her life.

The first one was of a book, and Emily knew that this was to symbolise her love of reading. The second was of a boat, to represent the life she'd had as a child.

The third was of a children's merry-go-round, and when she turned the charm over she felt a tear in her eye as she read the words "A mother's love for her child, death can't take it away."

The fourth was of, what looked like a case file with a gun on top of it, and Emily couldn't help but laugh when she read "Kickin' criminal ass... it's a tough job!" on the back, remembering the incident with Brad, and wondering how Hotch knew about it.

The final charm was of a cocktail glass, with the word "friends" written on the bottom and Emily guessed this was to represent the rest of the team, which made her smile bigger, if possible.

"Oh Aaron... this is beautiful!" Emily gushed as she opened the charm and placed it on her wrist, before holding it out in front of her and admiring it.

"Well it's your birthday in two days and as your boyfriend it's my duty to get you a present." Hotch informed her happily.

At these words Emily stopped admiring her bracelet and turned her full attention to Hotch, who was still staring at her happily.

"You called yourself my boyfriend." She said slightly shocked.

"I did... do you mind?" Hotch asked her, really hopping she didn't.

"Hell no." Emily replied quickly a grin spreading on her face.

"Well good because I want to give you this as well." Hotch said, pulling one last charm out of his pocket and placing it in Emily's palm.

Emily looked down at the heart shaped charm that had "Aaron and Emily" written on the front and when she turned it over it revealed the words "10/06/08 -."

"You know something." Emily whispered as she stared at the charm intently.

"What?" Hotch asked, hopping he hadn't jumped the gun slightly.

"I think that right now, I'm the luckiest woman on the planet." She finished, breaking out into a huge smile as she finally looked up at Hotch.

"Glad to hear it." Hotch laughed, before leaning over and capturing Emily's lips in a soft kiss.

Once their lips touched Emily could feel eighteen years of tension vacate her body as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Hotch's neck, running one through his hair. After a while she felt Hotch's tongue graze her bottom lip and she parted her lips slightly allowing Hotch's tongue full reign of her mouth.

They didn't break apart until air eventually became a problem and they rested their heads on each others, panting slightly and staring into each other's eyes.

"Wow." Emily breathed, with a small laugh.

"Worth the wait?" Hotch wanted to know as he to smiled.

"Most defiantly... as long as I don't have to wait again." Emily replied, before leaning in and kissing him again, softly and passionately.  
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Done... ok so this was a little cheesier than I imagined it would be, but it ended the way I wanted it to, and I like it, so I hope you guys do as well. Review it please (and thank you if you do)!


	16. Girls Night

Ok so this is the next chapter in the story. It's a girl's night out... and Emily's love life is the hot topic of the evening.

It's about a weeks after the date, so still October 2008. Though Emily's now 38.  
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"Secrets are made to be found out with time." – Charles Stanford.  
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"Right ladies, where we heading?" JJ asked her two best friends as they made their way down the busy DC Street, at eight o clock on a Friday evening.

"After the week I've had, anywhere that serves drink!" Emily replied, thinking back to the Floyd Hansen case during the week, and how she was never staying in a roadside motel again.

"Amen to that babe." Garcia agreed happily.

"Oh yea, because that'll be loads of fun for me." JJ added sarcastically, indicating to her ever growing bump as she spoke.

"Oh right, sorry Jayje, forgot about that." Emily said meekly.

"You wouldn't forget about it if you had to carry Junior around with you." JJ murmured, glaring at the bump, that she'd christened Junior, and wishing that the baby would hurry up and get the hell out.

"Ok so how about the Chinese place around the corner, they have good food and you guy's provide good conversation... and that my fine, furry, friends sounds like a good night out." Garcia said happily, before grabbing the arms of both her friend and dragging them around the corner, not giving them a chance to protest.

~.~.~.~

"My god, it feels like it's been years since we've had a proper girl's night!" JJ exclaimed, once they were seated.

"I guess between cases and you getting pregnant we haven't had time... which sucks if you ask me." Emily replied, as she picked up her menu to decide what to order.

"Yup, that it does... we need to never leave it this long again because as much as I love Will, if I had to spend another Friday night with his head lying on my stomach talking to Junior, I may have shot him." JJ told her friends.

Emily and Garcia laughed, both of them knowing how much Will was looking forward to being a father, due to the fact that any time they had talked to him since he'd moved to DC that was all he talked about.

"Aw I think it's kind of cute." Emily told her.

JJ didn't get a chance to respond however, as just then the waitress came over and took their orders... Cantonese duck for Emily, chicken chow-mien for JJ and beef and black bean sauce for Garcia.

"So," Garcia said once the waitress had left with their orders, "what's new with you Emily?"

At this Emily raised an eyebrow questioningly. Not only did the team spend most of their lives in each other's presence, therefore there wasn't much they didn't know about each other, but Emily's profiling skills also alerted her to the subtle eye contact Garcia and JJ had made before Garcia asked the question.

"Uh, nothing overly exciting ... why do you ask?" Emily questioned, not liking where he conversation was going.

"Oh no reason, you just seem chirpier recently is all... new man in your life maybe?" Garcia asked, a dangerous smile playing across her face as she spoke.

Emily kicked herself internally. She should have known that her two best friends wouldn't decide to go on a girl's night when one of them was heavily pregnant, unless there was some serious gossip to be had... and it looked like she was the gossip.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emily replied calmly, deciding that her best bet would be to play it off, seeing as she was the only profiler in the room... thank god!

"Emily, Pen and myself may not be fully trained profilers like you are... but we can tell when our best friend is lying to us." JJ told her, an amused look on her face.

Before Emily could reply, the food arrived and this gave her the opportunity to make up an elaborate, yet believable cover story.

"I'm not happier... it's just it was my birthday, and I guess I'm still on a high from that." Emily told them... really? That was the best cover she could think of! Damn, she needed to practice lying!

"Oh my god!" JJ exclaimed, trying her best not to laugh. "You had all that time while the food was being served to think of an excuse and THAT was your best idea!"

"Come on chica, spill." Garcia prompted.

"There's nothing to 'spill'!" Emily exclaimed, feeling herself get pushed into a corner by her two friends.

"Ok then... so what about the mysterious charm bracelet you've started wearing?" Garcia asked, starting to sound more and more like an interrogator by the second.

"What this?" Emily asked innocently, holding up the wrist that had the charm bracelet Hotch had given to her a week earlier firmly attached to it.

"Naw." JJ replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes at how lame her friend was being, by trying to avoid their questions. "Emily cut out the crap and tell us who gave it to you!"

"A friend of mine did." Emily replied meekly.

At this comment, both JJ and Garcia exchanged looks and raised their eyebrows at Emily, a bemused look playing on their faces.

"What! Is it that hard to believe that I have friends outside work?" Emily asked defensively.

"If it was anyone else we were talking to then we'd say no, but you're almost as much of a workaholic as the boss man is, so actually it is that hard to believe." Garcia informed her.

"And don't even try to tell us someone from work gave it to you." JJ said, seeing Emily was about to speak, "because I know that I gave you the throw you wanted for your room, Pen got you the red bag you wanted, Rossi got you perfume, Spence got you a book, and Morgan took you out clubbing... and Morgan informed me that while the two of you were out, you didn't even accept a drink from a guy, so come on Em, we're your best friends, tell us who he is!" she finished.

"Yea Emily, tell us... the gift looks like something your boyfriend would give to you, so if you don't tell us who really gave it to you we're going to presume it was the one and only SSAIC Aaron Hotchner, seeing as he was the only person who didn't get you a gift." Garcia added teasingly.

At this sentence Emily nearly choked on a cashew nut. Even though she knew that Garcia and JJ didn't have a clue about her and Hotch... I mean how could they; they'd only gone on one official date and spent lunch together once or twice... she couldn't help but get a little panicky, due to the fact that she wasn't sure if Hotch wanted people to know about the 'thing' they had just yet.

She called it a 'thing' because despite the fact that they were officially a couple, they really hadn't had much time to do proper couple things... they hadn't even kissed since the day at the carnival, due to the fact that they ate lunch on campus so they couldn't risk being seen.

All they'd really done so far is talk... and as much as communication was important in a relationship, Emily wasn't really willing to put labels on things until they'd spent more time together outside of work.

"Actually," Emily started, hoping the lie she was about to tell would throw her friends off the scent for now, "Hotch got me a bunch of flowers." she concluded, proud at the fact that it wasn't really a lie, he'd given her lilies before their date.

"Oh right... well that still doesn't explain the charm bracelet." Garcia said, eyeing the piece of jewellery in question.

"Oh that..." Emily started, also looking at the jewellery, "I actually got that for myself, as a kind of birthday present thing." She lied again, starting to feel guilty now.

"So what do the charms represent?" JJ asked, not letting the subject be dropped that easily.

"Oh well, the book is for my love of reading, the boat is for all the travelling I done as a kid, the case file and gun represents my job, and the cocktail glass represents the fun I like to have with you guys." Emily told them.

"What about the heart and the merry-go-round?" Garcia asked.

Emily took a deep breath... they were her best friends, and she knew she could trust them not to tell anyone, but she really wasn't ready to tell anyone else about Rome. Hotch was the only person in the world other than Matthew that knew, and right now that's how she wanted it to stay... that didn't stop her feeling bad for not telling them though.

"Well... the merry-go-round represents, uh, the youth I wish I had." Emily lied easily, "and the heart reminds me of all the people I love." She added, only half lying this time because Hotch was one of the people she loved.

"Oh right." JJ said, not fully convinced, but not able to think of anything else she could ask.

~.~.~.~.~

The rest of the meal passed without any more interrogations.

Emily and Garcia had fun making up names for JJ's baby other than Junior, and they talked a bit about Kevin's disgusting food preferences, but other than that and some small talk, the evening was quiet, much to Emily's relief.

They decided to call it an early night, at around midnight... well it was early for them... due to the fact that JJ was carrying a bit of extra weight and was getting extremely vocal about it as the night went on.

JJ called Will to pick her up and Garcia called Kevin, which left Emily to get a cab back to her apartment.

Once she opened the door, had thrown down her bag and taken off her killer heels she went straight for her phone and hit speed dial one.

"Hotchner." Came the surprisingly alert reply... well at this hour anyway... on the other end of the line.

"Hey it's Emily, we need to talk, I think the girls are on to us." Emily responded.

"Right, well you can come over tomorrow." Hotch said calmly.

"But you have Jack tomorrow." Emily said, biting her lip.

She knew how little time Hotch and Jack got together thanks to Haley, and she really didn't want to intrude on that.

"Don't worry Emily, you're an important part of my life now, and that makes you a part of Jacks life as well." Hotch told her.

"Ok, well I'll see you then." Emily responded quickly before hanging up.

She sat down on her couch and felt a wide grin spread across her face... He'd just said she was an important part of his life!

She was important enough to meet Jack... well she'd met him before obviously, he was her honorary nephew after all, but this was different... this time she was his daddy's girlfriend as well.

Any doubt's Emily had had about the 'thing' between her and Hotch were immediately put to rest... in her mind anyway if she was being introduced to his son as his girlfriend there was only one label she could put on the 'thing'... a couple.  
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Ok, so there we go. The Floyd Hansen case is the episode 4x04 "Paradise" by the way. I didn't want the girls to know about Rome because it's the one thing that only Hotch knows and I want to keep it that way... until Demonology anyway. Tell me your thoughts.


	17. Bonding

Ok so it's the next day now and Emily and Hotch decide what to tell the team. This chapter is mainly bonding between Emily and Jack though... sort of a little family moment. =)

Still October 2008. Jack is three by the way.  
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"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." – Desmond Tutu  
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Emily walked down the corridor that Hotch's apartment was on and knocked on the door twice before standing and waiting patiently for the door to open.

She'd deliberately been a little later than Hotch would have been expecting her because she knew he got Jack at ten and she didn't particularly want to be there when Haley dropped him off because she didn't think the atmosphere would be very nice to say the least.

After about a minute she heard the lock in the door click open and seconds later the door swung open to reveal a worn out, but happy looking Hotch.

"Hey, come in just be careful that you don't stand on any of Jacks toys." Hotch said with a smile as he watched Emily step in the door cautiously, looking down to make sure there was no toys under her feet.

Once she crossed the threshold Hotch swooped in and placed a brief but passion filled kiss on her lips, before pulling back and smiling again.

Once he done this Emily immediately stepped back outside again and stood for a brief second before coming back in, a grin plastered on her face the whole time.

"What are you doing?" Hotch asked, trying not to laugh.

"Well if that's the sort of greeting I get when I come into your apartment, I think I'm going to do it more often." Emily said with a wink.

"Oh believe me sweetheart, you don't have to walk in to get a kiss, I give them out for free." Hotch teased, before leaning in and giving Emily what would have been a slightly more passionate kiss than the last one, if it were not for the younger Hotchner interrupting their moment.

"Ew!" Came the sound of Jack's voice from inside the room.

Emily and Hotch broke apart and turned to find the young boy staring at them, a look of disgust written all over his face.

"Daddy, oo know giwls have cooties!" Jack exclaimed, his voice full of disgust at what his father was doing.

"Even you're Aunty Emily?" Hotch asked, trying his best not to laugh at the expression on his sons face.

Jack then looked at Emily... who was also bursting her ribs trying not to laugh... and his face immediately broke into a small smile as he rushed towards her and wrapped his small arms around her legs.

"Emmy!" He squeaked happily as he made contact with Emily's side, almost toppling her over, and if it wasn't for Hotch's quick reflexes she probably would have fallen.

"Hey there Jacko." Emily replied happily as she lifted the small boy into her arms and swung him around, causing him to giggle.

"What awe oo doin' hewe Emmy?" Jack asked once she'd stopped swinging him and placed him sitting on her hip.

Emily looked to Hotch now, not sure whether to tell Jack that she was just visiting, or whether she was his daddy's new girlfriend.

"Well buddy." Hotch said, stepping in once he seen Emily give him a look, "Miss Emily is my new girlfriend... and I thought it would be fun if she came over for a while to play with us today... what do you think of that?" He asked his son simply, not wanting to confuse the tree year old too much.

"Will Emmy watch Shwek 2 wiv me?" Jack asked hopefully, looking at his father.

"If that's what you want, then I'd love to watch Shrek 2." Emily replied smiling at the young boy.

"Yay! I wike Emmy to stay daddy!" Jack exclaimed happily as he wriggled free of Emily's grasp and ran to the DVD stand in the sitting room to look for the Shrek DVD.

"Well that was easy." Emily murmured to Hotch as they made their way over to the couch to sit down and watch the DVD.

"Well Jack's a lot like me you know... he can tell when someone is worth getting to know." Hotch informed her as they sat down, Emily curling right up to Hotch's side, Hotch sliding an arm around her waist.

Hotch then leant over and placed a quick kiss on her forehead before Jack joined them, jumping into Hotch's lap and leaning on Emily's shoulder, giving the remote control to his father so the DVD could be turned on.

The threesome sat in silence for the duration of the DVD, Jack jumping happily whenever donkey started to sing, and making a disgusted face when Fiona and Shrek kissed, but other than that there was no noise, Emily and Hotch being happy just sitting with each other and Jack being far to engrossed in the movie.

"Wat now?" Jack enquired once the credits began to roll on the screen.

"Well I think it's time you had a nap." Hotch told him, noticing his son's eye lids beginning to droop.

"No! Me wana bake cookies!" Jack said, looking as if he was about to throw a tantrum.

"Well how about when you wake up, I can have cookies ready for you?" Emily asked, hoping this would avoid a temper tantrum.

"Kay." Jack said happily, immediately looking happy again.

"Right buddy come on, I'll read you a really quick story if you hurry." Hotch told him, before the young boy rushed off towards his room.

"I won't be long." Hotch informed Emily as he got up of the couch after his son and leant down to kiss her quickly, before following Jack towards the young boy's room.

~.~.~.~.~

Hotch was of course true to his word, and he re-appeared five minutes later, minus Jack and sat down beside Emily again, pulling her into his lap.

"So if I understand the phone call we had last night, JJ and Garcia are on to us?" Hotch asked, as Emily rested her head on his.

"Well... they know I'm dating someone... they don't know it's you though." Emily informed him, as she traced circles on the back of his jumper with her finger.

"Well do you think we should tell them?" Hotch asked her.

"I don't know... I don't want it to look like I swooped in on you after your divorce." Emily told him quietly. "And I don't want to get a name just because I'm sleeping with the boss." She added.

"I seriously don't think the team... our family, will think anything even remotely along those lines." Hotch told her reassuringly, "in fact I'm pretty sure they'll be jumping for joy." He added with a smile.

"Mm, I suppose you're right... we'll tell them soon." Emily murmured.

"Ok," Hotch replied quietly, "You know you're not technically sleeping with your boss." He added in a teasing voice.

"Oh believe me, that won't be true for much longer." Emily replied flirtatiously.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking." Hotch teased, as he began to slowly slide his hands down Emily's back, towards the waistline of her jeans.

"Normally I'd say yes, I most certainly am... but your son is sleeping in the next room and we promised we'd have cookies ready for him when he woke up." Emily reminded him.

"Spoil sport." Hotch muttered, as Emily began to get up.

He didn't let her get away that easily though, pulling her back down onto his lap and connecting their lips in a mind numbing kiss, refusing to pull apart until their oxygen levels became dangerously low.

"Mm... Only you could make me not want to make cookies for your son." Emily said once she caught her breath.

"Glad to know I've that effect on you." Hotch replied with a smirk, before they both got up and moved towards the kitchen to start baking.  
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Done... couldn't resist that last moment between them, even though this chapter was meant to be about Emily and Jack bonding. Oh well, tell me what you thought! =)


	18. Telling the team

Well I thought it was about time that the team found out, and in this chapter its Hotch's birthday, so I thought I'd tell them then.

It's November 2008. Emily is 38 and Hotch is 43 (today!).  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"There are no secrets better kept, than the secrets everybody guesses." – George Bernard Shaw.  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Emily heard a knock on her door just as he pulled on her other shoe... talk about good timing.

She walked over and expected to see JJ or Will standing outside; as they were going to be giving her a ride to the birthday meal the team were throwing Hotch at his favourite restaurant.

So she was slightly shocked when instead she opened the door and found Hotch standing there, dressed in a casual suit.

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked once she opened the door.

"Hey honey I'm so glad to see you standing on my doorstep, please give me a kiss, I've missed you! Oh no, you couldn't possibly be that nice." Hotch teased as he stepped into her apartment and closed the door behind him.

"Oh ha, ha, I am glad to see you sweetheart, I'm just wondering why you're here?" Emily asked with a smile as she put in one of her emerald green earrings, which matched her emerald green, one shoulder dress perfectly.

"Well I was thinking... seeing as it's my birthday and all, I was wondering if I could show off my extremely beautiful new girlfriend to the team." Hotch asked with a small smile.

"Gee... I don't know, you'd need to ask her first." Emily teased, a sly smile playing on her face.

"Pretty please Emily, think of it as a birthday present." He pleaded playfully.

"I've already gotten you a present... in fact if you play your cards right you'll get more than one present." Emily added with a wink. "But I guess since it's your birthday, I suppose I should let you get your way this one time." She added with a smile.

"Mm, I like the idea of that." Hotch murmured, before leaning down and capturing Emily's lips.

"I thought you would." Emily said with a smile once they broke apart reluctantly, and rested their foreheads on each other. "Now, go to my bedside locker and take out the present, it's for you."

"Why, what are you doing?" Hotch asked, as he reluctantly began to pull away from Emily.

"I'm going to call Jayje and tell her to go straight to the restaurant because I'm getting there with someone else." Emily said with a smile.

~.~.~.~.~

"Where the hell is Emily?" Rossi asked the table in general as the entire team, plus Will and Kevin, sat waiting for Hotch and Emily to arrive.

"She said she's getting a lift with someone else." JJ replied.

"Yea and anyway, where's the birthday boy would be a more appropriate question to ask." Morgan said, as he looked at the door in anticipation.

It was then that Garcia and JJ joined the dots on their head, and shot each other identical, excited looks from across the table.

"Oh my god!" Garcia exclaimed excitedly to JJ, a twinkle in her eye.

"What is it?" Questioned Reid, who was looking between the two women with a look of confusion written on his face.

"Do you think?" JJ asked Garcia, completely ignoring Reid's question, and the confused looks the rest of the table were shooting them.

"It's the only reasonable explanation... that I'm willing to believe anyway." Garcia replied using all herself restraint not to jump up on the table and start dancing.

"Ok ladies, as amazed as I am that you two can have whole conversations without saying what you're talking about, I'd appreciate if you told all of the people who can't read minds." Rossi told the two women, hating the fact that he didn't know the gossip.

He didn't need to hear the answer however as before JJ or Garcia had a chance to open their mouths Hotch and Emily walked over to the table, both smiling widely.

A look of realisation dawned on the faces of the rest of the table and Garcia and JJ both smiled broadly, Garcia even letting out a small squeal at the sight of them.

Hotch and Emily ignored the looks they were getting from the team however, and sat down beside each other, both picking up their menus and pretending to read what was being served.

"Oh no you don't! Put them menus down now." Rossi ordered, as Reid and JJ, who was sitting on either side of the couple, pulled the menus from their hands.

"What? Can't we order food in peace?" Emily asked innocently, trying to keep a smile off her face.

"Not when the two of you just walked in here, fifteen minutes late... and together!" Morgan exclaimed, as means of an answer to Emily's question.

"We did? Huh, I didn't realise that." Hotch replied, also trying not to smile.

"Don't play dumb with us Hotch, just spill, how long have you two been getting it on?" JJ asked boldly.

"JJ!" Emily exclaimed, slightly shocked by her friends frankness.

"Emily Susan Prentiss, don't you dare 'JJ' me, when you've been keeping secrets like this from me." JJ told her, using her full name to add dramatic effect.

"Or what?" Emily laughed, quite enjoying how dramatic the entire team were being.

"Or I'll have Will here attack you!" JJ said, motioning to her boyfriend and smiling slightly.

"Now hold on Darlin'. I don't mess with girls that have guns." Will told JJ, looking slightly worried that he was being drawn into this argument.

"What do you think I am?" JJ replied, shooting Will a glare. "Not to mention that I'm six months pregnant." She added.

"Ok before JJ's baby grows up without a daddy, we need to get back to the topic at hand... since when have you two been an item?" Rossi asked Emily and Hotch again.

"How do you even know we're an item?" Emily asked teasingly.

"You walked in here together." Morgan told them smugly.

"Ah, but my car's in the garage so Hotch gave me a lift." Emily replied, easily deflecting that answer.

"Well why didn't you take the lift me and Will offered you?" JJ asked.

"Because I didn't know you were giving Emily a lift so I stopped at her place and she didn't want you to have to come out of your way to get her when I was there already." Hotch replied, also cancelling that question with ease.

"What's with the new watch then?" Rossi asked, looking down at the brand new watch on Hotch's wrist.

Emily and Hotch stared at each other for a moment, neither knowing how to explain the new wrist watch that Emily had given Hotch for his birthday.

"Sean gave it to me... well posted it actually." Hotch said after a moment, thankful that none of the team knew Sean well enough to be able to know different.

The team were silent then, each trying to think of a reason that proved they were together, Emily and Hotch sitting back and enjoying the game they were playing... of course they'd tell the team, they just wanted to have their fun first.

Eventually after the waiter had come with their food Reid spoke up.

"Hotch, you have a lipstick smudge, the exact same shade as Emily is wearing, on your jaw, beside your ear." He told him triumphantly.

At this piece of information there was a rush as everyone at the table craned their necks around to get a good look at the lipstick mark, each person smiling smugly when they seen it.

"Explain that!" Morgan dared them, not even trying to hide his smirk.

"I think they have us dear." Hotch told Emily with a small smile.

"Yes sweetheart, I'm pretty sure we've been found out." Emily agreed, also smiling.

"Wait so you aren't trying to deny it anymore?" Reid asked as he looked at the couple exchange smiles.

"Naw... we were only denying it in the first place because it was fun." Emily smiled, as she laced her fingers with Hotch's on the table.

"You mean you put us through that torture just to get a laugh!" Garcia exclaimed.

"Um... yea, why else would we?" Emily joked.

"Though on the bright side you can now ask us all the questions you want." Hotch added when he seen the furious look on Garcia's face.

This immediately replaced the angry look on Garcia's face with one of pure joy as the clogs in her head started to turn, as she thought of a suitable question.

"How long have you been together?" she asked finally.

"Well officially... almost a month." Hotch told them.

"Wait... what do you mean officially?" Morgan questioned. "How could there be a 'not officially'... you two didn't even talk until Hotch got divorced."

"Oh my god! You weren't having an affair were you?" Rossi exclaimed. "Not that I'm judging you... that's how most of my marriages ended." He added when he seen the look on both Hotch and Emily's face.

"We did not have an affair!" Hotch clarified. "We just knew each other before we joined the team."

"What... how?" JJ asked, curious as to how they could have met when Emily lived in Chicago before she joined the team and Hotch lived in Seattle before he joined... as far as she knew.

"That's a really long story." Emily said with a small laugh, as she remembered the night all them years ago when he'd picked her up from the street.

"I used to work for her mother." Hotch said quickly.

At first Emily was hurt by the fact that he didn't remember the night in Georgetown, but she quickly felt him squeeze her leg under the table, and she knew that he just didn't want to embarrass her by telling the team where she used to work.

"Aw that's so cute... now on to more important matters though... How long have you loved each other?" Garcia asked, skipping the small talk as usual when there was gossip to be had.

Emily and Hotch both looked at each other briefly... they both knew the answer to this; they both just didn't know if it was what the other was thinking.

"Since Chicago." They both said, almost laughing at the fact that they said it at the same time.

"Oh now we need to know what happened there?" JJ told them matter of factly.

"Well not much really... It just hit me that I loved her." Hotch told them, again bending the truth slightly, and leaving out the fact that he'd rejected her cruelly... he wasn't dumb enough to tell four armed agents and one extremely dangerous Garcia that... he did like his head firmly attached to his body after all.

"Oh there's a whole other side to you two." Garcia said with a wink, and a small laugh.

"You have no idea." Emily murmured, so only Hotch would hear.  
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There done. Ok not much to say on this chapter, only to ask y'all nicely to review and to say that the next chapter should be up soon! =)


	19. Sparks will fly

Next chapter, and also the next day! This one is about Haley finding out, dun, dun, dun! Sparks will fly... and I smell a fight!

Ok I know I said I'd update soon, but my cousins wedding was at the weekend and that took up most of Friday (school took up the rest) all of Saturday and most of Sunday, and Monday was school and cooperating from the weekend, so this is as soon as I could post it... sorry *guilty look*.

It's November 2008. Emily is 38 and Hotch is 43 (obviously).  
_

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." – Sun Tzu.  
_

"Hm, I think yesterday may have been the best birthday I've ever had." Hotch murmured as he lay in the warm bed. "And your gift may have been the best present I've ever gotten." He added with a large smile, running his hand through Emily's soft hair.

"Which one?" Emily asked with a smirk, as she traced shapes on Hotch's bare chest with her hand, as she lay beside him, using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Hm... well as much as I liked what we done in this bed last night... all three times we done it... I'm going to have to say I liked the watch more." He replied with a smirk.

"Oh and here was me thinking you'd have liked breakfast in bed... obviously not though." Emily said, slapping his chest playfully as she spoke.

"Aw, you know I didn't mean it." Hotch told her.

"Is that your attempt at an apology?" Emily asked a small smile on her lips.

"No... This is my apology." Hotch told her, as he began kissing her shoulder blade softly, causing the smile on Emily's lips to grow.

~.~.~.~.~

I think that's a satisfactory enough apology." Emily told him once she'd caught her breath, sometime a lot later.

"Are you sure?" Hotch asked, smiling contently.

"Not really, but unless you want your breakfast in bed to turn into a lunch in bed, you better let me get up and make it for you." Emily told him, as she began to lift her head up off his shoulder.

"You drive a hard bargain Emily Prentiss." Hotch replied as he reluctantly unhooked his arms from around her waist and let her leave the bed.

He watched her as she slowly made her way around his room, first going over to his drawer and pulling out a pair of his underwear to put on, and then rummaging around the floor until she found his shirt from the previous night.

"You know we really need to talk about getting a drawer for my stuff." Emily told him absentmindedly, as she buttoned up his shirt.

"You can have the bottom drawer on the dresser if you insist... though I prefer what you're wearing now." Hotch confessed with a sly smile.

"Well that's just the alpha male in you speaking." Emily informed him as she walked over to him and gave him a soft kiss before heading towards the bedroom door.

Hotch watched her as she half walked half skipped out of the room, looking like she'd never been happier. The only think he could think... how the hell had he gotten this lucky?

~.~.~.~.~

Emily hummed the tune of a random song in her head as she made her way down the short hallway and into Hotch's small kitchen.

She'd decided to make pancakes, so she quickly went about locating the necessary ingredients and finding a pan, whisk and bowl.

She glided around the kitchen with ease, adding all the ingredients to the bowl quickly and beginning to whisk it all together. She was just about to add the mixture to the pre heated pan when she heard a knock on the door.

She knew it was probably Rossi, as he'd promised to come over with Hotch's present... as he'd forgotten to bring it the night before... and he was probably coming around at this early hour because he knew that she was probably here and despite the fact the team now knew about her and Hotch's relationship, he still wouldn't miss an opportunity to tease the couple.

She wiped her hand on the apron she presumed a member of the team had gotten Hotch... as she doubted he'd buy an apron saying 'Hot Guy in Charge', plus the fact that someone had added the letters 'ch' after 'hot'... and she slowly made her way towards the door.

She swatted a stray hair out of her face before unlocking and opening the exterior door.

The sight that greeted her was not Rossi however, and it made her heart skip a beat, as she just stood their motionless.

"Emily?" The other woman, who looked equally shocked, said after a moment.

"Haley!" Emily replied, wishing the ground would just swallow her up.

It was then that Emily noticed Haley's eye take in the rest of her appearance. Emily followed her gaze and almost died when she recalled what she was wearing. The apron was just about covering Hotch's half buttoned shirt and she could tell without looking that she still had bed hair... yup the ground should really just swallow her right about now!

"Emmy!" A previously unnoticed Jack squealed, as he ran out from behind his mother towards the dark haired woman, who was still standing in a state of shock.

"Not so fast buddy." Haley said quickly, as she grabbed the young boy around the waist as he ran past and scooped him up into her arms, holding him tight against her side. "Is Aaron here?" Haley asked coldly, looking into the apartment rather than at Emily.

"Uh, he's up stairs." Emily informed her, thinking it best not to tell Haley his exact location... though she'd probably already guessed.

"Well could you tell him to come down here please, seeing as it was his birthday yesterday I thought I'd let Jack stay over to keep him company as a gift." Haley informed her, "Not that he needs it." She added under her breath.

"Well I was actually going to make him breakfast in bed so you could just leave Jack with me, so Aaron doesn't have to get up." Emily said calmly, trying her best to ignore how ignorant Haley was being.

"Well with respect Emily, I'd rather leave my son with someone I can trust." Haley spat menacingly, though managing to keep her voice vaguely even for the sake of her son, who was listening intently to the adult's conversation.

"What do you mean by that?" Emily asked fire in her eyes, but with a calm voice.

"Well I think I'd rather leave my son with someone who wasn't a husband stealing s-l-u-t." Haley replied with a nasty smirk, spelling out the last word so Jack wouldn't understand.

Emily stood for a moment, in complete shock at the fact that Haley would say something like that to her, especially when Jack was with her... she felt like she'd just been slapped across the face!

"Well Haley, from what I hear I'm not the only one of them in the room." Emily replied deciding to play Haley at her own game, just about resisting the urge to slap the other woman.

"How dare you!" Haley exclaimed, taking a step closer to Emily as she spoke.

This didn't intimidate Emily in the slightest however, and she also stepped closer, using her slight height difference to full advantage and leaning over the other woman menacingly.

"Jack honey, why don't you go find your father." Haley told her son, as she let the boy out of her arms, not taking her eyes off Emily.

Jack looked quickly between the two women, who were staring each other down, before rushing off to find his dad, because even a three year old knew that what was happening wasn't good.

"I don't know what I've EVER done to piss you off that much, but I'd appreciate it if you never talked to me like that in front of Jack again." Emily hissed low and menacingly to the other woman.

"You don't know what you done!" Haley said with an angry laugh. "You had an affair with my husband! That's what you done." She clarified.

"What the hell!" Emily exclaimed in shock. "I didn't start seeing Aaron until after the two of you got divorced, in fact I didn't start seeing him until six months after you got divorced, so don't try that crap on me." Emily spat, feeling the rage rise inside her begin to bubble over.

"You may not have slept with him, but you stole his heart from me long before we got a divorce." Haley retorted, stepping even closer to Emily.

"Well there's nothing I can do about that Haley... I'm sorry." Emily said finally, seeing the look of sadness in Haley's eyes and suddenly feeling compassion for this woman.

"Sorry my ass you sly cow!" Haley snapped, grabbing Emily wrist and twisting it slightly.

"How dare you! Get your hand off me now!" Emily shouted, trying in vain to pull her hand from Haley's locked grip, immediately forgetting about the compassion she'd just felt for her.

"You and I both know that you're just sleeping with him to get to the top, and then you'll dump his sorry ass and sit in your comfy executive chair laughing at his stupidity." Haley shouted, twisting her wrist so much that Emily actually winced in the pain.

Emily was about to shout the other woman down for saying something like that to her face... not to mention knock her head off for hurting her... when a furious voice interrupted her.

"Haley, get the hell of my girlfriend." Hotch ordered, as he appeared at the top of the hall, wearing a pair of pants and an old worn out Harvard t-shirt.

"Oh and there he is, the great Aaron Hotchner... you do know she's using you right, how does it feel? Falling for the slutty little office cow?" Haley asked with a wicked smirk on her face.

Before Hotch had a chance to reply... with what would have been a less than pleasant comment... Emily took the opportunity of Haley's lack of concentration, to wriggle her arm free and grab Haley's wrist, all in the blink of an eye.

"Apologise." Emily told her forcefully.

"Ha! To you! Not in a million years." Haley spat as she tried to loosen the grip Emily had on her hand.

"Haley, I'm being nice here... I could easily break your arm and throw you out, but I'm not going to because I know that the divorce must have been tough on you and that you must still be hurting from it." Emily replied calmly.

"Don't you dare try and take the higher ground with me!" Haley snapped. "Tell your psycho girlfriend to get off me." Haley added to Hotch who was standing watching the altercation, not quite knowing whether or not to step in.

"Haley, don't play dumb, this is between me and you... so please just apologise." Emily told her, not really wanting to start a fight as her wrist was already in excruciating pain from where Haley had twisted it.

Haley stared for a brief moment at the hand lock that Emily had her in, before looking to the woman's eyes and seeing a mix of anger and pity.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Haley said, almost sounding like she meant it as well.

"Thank you." Emily said after a moment of hesitation, releasing the other woman's hand with a small smile on her face, hoping that she was being truthful in her apology.

"I'll pick Jack up from nursery tomorrow so there's no reason for us to be in contact." Haley told Hotch as she took a step away from Emily.

"Right that's good." Hotch said, trying to keep his own voice calm.

"Just one more thing though." Haley said to Emily again.

"Yes?" Emily asked as she nursed her sore wrist in her hand.

"I'm really not sorry at all." She told her before lifting her hand and slapping Emily across the face before the agent had a chance to react.

"Get the hell out of my apartment!" Hotch bellowed, striding to the front door and almost tearing it off its hinges, sending death glares to Haley as she made her way out with a triumphant smile on her face.

He then turned back to Emily, who was still standing holding the left side of her face with a shocked expression.

"Oh my god Emily are you ok?" Hotch asked as he ran over to her and lifted her hand away to reveal a raw red hand mark on her cheek.

"Well there's either a drill in my head or your ex has a mean right hook." Emily said with a small smile, "but other than that I'm fine."

"That's it! I'm calling the cop's." Hotch said, as he went to move towards the phone.

"No don't." Emily told him, momentarily forgetting her pain and raising her sore hand to try and stop him, immediately regretting this though as a dull, but excruciating, pain went through her arm causing her to wince again.

"Emily honey, she slapped you across the face and she broke your wrist, that's assault and I'm calling the cops." Hotch informed her.

"Aaron Hotchner, I swear to god if you lift that phone you won't be sleeping anywhere near me for at least a month." Emily threatened.

This caused Hotch to stop in his tracks momentarily.

"Emily she attacked you! Why don't you want to press charges?" He asked in surprise.

"Because she's Jack's mother, and I don't want to cause any more tension that could mean you possibly getting to see your son less, I love you and I love Jack and I know that it'd kill both of you if you weren't able to see each other... so I forbid you from calling the police." Emily told him, giving him an 'I dare you to contradict me' look just to show how serious she was.

"Fine." Hotch sighed. "But at least let me look at your wrist." He pleaded as he guided her over to the couch.

"That you can do... though I'm pretty sure it's only a sprain." She told him, as she examined the wrist herself.

Hotch went to the cupboard and retrieved a first aid kit from one of the presses, before going back over to where Emily was sitting and kneeling down on the ground beside her. They stayed quiet for a moment as Hotch tended to Emily's arm before Emily broke the silence.

"You know I'm not just sleeping with you to get to the top?" She asked quietly.

At this comment Hotch stopped what he was doing and looked up at her slowly.

"Emily Prentiss, I've known you since you were nineteen years old, and if there's one thing I've learnt about you it's that you'd never in a million years use politics, especially dirty ones, to get somewhere in life." Hotch told her, leaning up to kiss her forehead.

"Good, because you're right... I bloody hate politics." She said with a small laugh.

"I know darling, I know." Hotch said with a smile as he finished wrapping her wound.

Just as he was about to lean in to kiss her there was a thundering of small feet on the floor, before an upset Jack ran into the room and flung himself at Emily's legs.

"Oo ok Emmy?" Jack asked as he looked up at her wrist and her red face.

"I'm just fine buddy, especially now that you're here." She told the young boy, before she carefully lifted him into her arms.  
_

Ok, so I think this is my longest chapter so far, which is another reason as to why this chapter wasn't up as quickly as I'd promised *another guilty look*. Well I didn't want to end the chapter on a bad note so I added in the Emily and Jack scene to make it happy again, YAY! Tell me all your thoughts, please! =)


	20. reassurance

Ok so this is the next chapter, and it's after "52 Pickup". This is more of a team chapter than a Hotch and Emily one, but I'll probably add a few scenes at the end. Oh and JJ's on maternity leave now.

It's the end of November 2008. Emily's 38 and Hotch is 43.  
_

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked" – Bernard Meltzer quotes.  
_

The team all laughed and joked among themselves as they stood in the elevator, waiting for it to bring them to the sixth floor of the BAU, where they knew Garcia would be waiting to greet them like she always did after a case.

The case had been almost easy compared to some of the cases they'd dealt with in the past so they were all in a good enough mood to stay behind to do some of the paper work that was probably spilling off their desks by now.

Once they'd all greeted Garcia they each headed towards the coffee machine for an injection of caffeine before going to their desks and offices, throwing down their go bags and sitting in their chairs, pulling the nearest file towards them with a sigh... no matter how good their mood was they still didn't like paper work.

The minutes ticked by slowly, no one but Reid making any real progress with their work as they were all too busy continuing their messing from earlier to get any work done. Even Garcia and Rossi had come out of their offices after an hour or so, deciding to join in the fun rather than sit on their own.

Soon after the two agents joined the team, Jordan left Hotch's office and walked down to the bullpen, wanting to talk rather than work after the conversations he'd had with Hotch, which had left her in a noticeably good mood.

Hotch left right behind her to refill his coffee cup, but got a little sidetracked when Reid picked up his phone, hit speed dial and engaged in a very un-Reid like conversation.

"Hey. How you feeling?"He asked who ever was on the other line.

The team listened closely, but also trying not to make it to obvious, as he talked to the mystery person on the other end of the phone line.

"I'm glad your stay at the hospital wasn't too terrible then." Reid said again, not noticing the looks the team exchanged as he spoke.

"Didn't the last victim go to hospital?" Jordan whispered to the team as she stood at Morgan's desk, watching Reid.

"She sure did." Rossi replied with a smirk, watching Reid intently as he spoke.

"Alrighty, back to bar tending, all right." Reid said, just as a mysterious package was handed to him.

"And she was a bar tender." Morgan told the team with a sly smile.

"Morgan shush, I want to find out what the hell this is about." Emily told him.

"Well that's, um, that's very exciting news... what is the new job path?" Reid asked.

The team then watched as he began to open the package, still on the phone, and pulled out what looked like a business card... what the hell was going on?

"Yea, it uh, it is my card!" Reid said, almost laughing as he looked at the card in his hand.

The team were now completely in the dark as to what was going on... and none of them, bar maybe Hotch, liked being left in the dark when it came to gossip.

They waited another few minutes as Reid and the mystery person talked, even Hotch seeming to take an interest into whom Reid was taking to, and once he said his goodbyes and put his phone down they swarmed his desk like a hive off bees.

"Well hello there sweet cheeks." Garcia said brightly, as she sat herself down on the edge of the young genius's desk and smiled at him. "Who was that you were talking to?" She asked, skipping all small talk.

"What are you talking about?" Reid asked, pretending to play dumb.

He didn't think his plan through though, as Morgan quickly leaned over him and snatched the business card out of his hand.

"Oh look here! There's a kiss mark on the back of this!" Morgan exclaimed excitedly as Reid tried in desperation to get the card back.

"So, you going to tell us, or are we going to have to guess?" Emily asked as she stared the young man down with a sly smile.

Reid sighed... there was no point trying to hide it from them, they were the best behavioural minds in the world after all.

"Her name is Austin... she's the bar tender from Atlanta... that's all you're getting from me." He said, not looking any of the team in the eye as he spoke.

"Oh looks like Emily wasn't the only one who found love on this case." Morgan teased, referring to Viper.

This earned him death glares from both Hotch and Emily and a crimson blush from Reid, who wasn't dealing to well under the interrogation.

"So are the two of you a couple yet?" Rossi asked, deciding to steer clear of Morgan teasing Emily about Viper, especially in Hotch's presence, as he knew how uncomfortable Hotch had been about the whole situation.

"Well I'm not sure yet... she lives in Atlanta and I live in DC... it's complicated." Reid told the team.

"Wonder boy, don't be ridiculous! JJ and Will made it work, Henry being the proof of that, so don't use distance as an excuse... go for it." Garcia told him happily.

Reid looked up at his friends with a small smile on his face. He knew they were right, he was just afraid to admit it... but he knew what he had to do.

"Ok... I'll call her and ask her to come and visit this weekend, how about that?" He asked the already smiling team.

"Perfect!" Garcia squeaked, as the rest of the team nodded their heads in agreement.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Later that evening Emily stood and watched as Hotch searched his pockets for the keys to his apartment so he could let both of them in.

He'd been more quiet that usual on the short journey from the BAU and unfortunately she had a fair idea why as well.

Once they had entered the apartment and put their bags in the corner beside the door, Emily took one final look at Hotch before wordlessly leading him over to the couch and sitting him down. She then sat beside him, curling her legs under her body and moving as close as possible, before taking both his hands in her own.

"You ok?" She asked simply, knowing that if she asked him too much too soon, he'd just brush off her question and shut her out.

"Yea... fine." Hotch told her quietly, not quite making eye contact.

"Aaron," Emily said quietly, reaching up and tilting his head slightly so he was looking at her, "I know that you're not... so please just tell me."

Hotch sighed, and took Emily's hand away from his face, kissing the palm lightly before he placed it down on her knee.

"Today... when Viper was flirting with you, I... I almost lost my cool." He admitted, looking slightly ashamed.

"Sweetheart, it's ok to feel jealous every now and then." Emily informed him, smiling slightly at the fact that he was so protective of her... even if primitive behaviour would normally repel her.

"No its not... because when you were going to the club I was tempted to not let you go just so you wouldn't be around him again Emily." He said, sighing again.

"But you didn't." Emily told him. "Even though you wanted to let your heart rule your head you didn't... and that's what makes you so damn good at your job."

"It's also what made my marriage fall apart." Hotch reminded her.

"Yes it was... but the difference this time is, I know the job we have, and I'm there with you, so I know how this job makes you who you are, and changes you a little every day you do it... some days for the better, and some days for the worse, but it changes you, and no one is immune to it, but underneath it all you're still the same... it just takes a bit of digging to find that, and I'm willing to dig Aaron... if you'll let me." Emily told him, hoping that this would get rid of all his fears.

"What did I do to deserve you Emily Prentiss?" Hotch asked after a moment, a small smile on his face.

"I guess you just got lucky." She told him, before pulling him close and giving him a sound kiss.  
_

There we go, I was thinking that Hotch probably has some insecurity about his relationship, especially after Haley, so I thought this chapter would be the best time to resolve some of them... next chapter is "Demonology" so I'll resolve some of Emily's then. Tell me what you thought! =)


	21. Staying Strong

Ok so this is the next chapter, and it's Demonology. Ok so even I found it hard to put a good spin on how mean Hotch was being to Emily in this episode so this is my attempt. It's after the episode.

By the was my prompt to wite this chapter was a "Winnie the Pooh" quote, lol.

It's March 2009, Emily is 38 and Hotch is 43.  
_

"Good relationships get in big fights over big things and little fights over little things, but great relationships get in big fights over little things and little fights over big things." – Unknown.  
_

After what felt like hours Emily finally made her way back to her apartment, soaked to the bone from the snow that had been falling, and with a dried blood stain under her nose from the nose bleed, but she didn't care, she'd just needed to be alone and that's what her walk through DC had given her... alone time.

She was beyond pissed at Hotch for what he'd done and she knew that once she got home he'd either have let himself into her apartment, or he'd be waiting in his car for her, so she'd needed to clear her head first... and she had a little bit.

She'd honestly thought that when he'd told her that the team would help her find who killed Matthew that he was willing to pull down the professional barriers that they'd both agreed to put up after the Viper case... but apparently even though he knew all about Matthew and her past, he wasn't willing to do that for her.

She didn't expect him to understand how she was feeling, but she did expect him to know that shouting at her and treating her like a child wouldn't help... obviously even the great Aaron Hotchner got it wrong sometimes.

Once she got to her apartment she seen that the door had already been unlocked so she put her key back in her pocket, knowing he was already inside and waiting for her.

Once she got in she walked straight to the kitchen and began to make hot chocolate, completely ignoring Hotch, who was sitting on her couch staring at her, as she wasn't quite ready to talk to him yet.

She stood in her kitchen once her hot chocolate was made, not really feeling like drinking it, but not really wanting to talk either. She turned suddenly however, when she felt Hotch's presence behind her.

"Emily, I'm so, so sorry." He told her, looking deep into her eyes and placing his hands on her upper arms.

"I don't want to talk to you right now." Emily informed him with a slight crack in her voice, as she pulled away from his arms and walked over to her couch.

Hotch followed her however and sat beside her, though at enough distance as they weren't actually touching.

"Emily are you ok." He asked the second he seen the blood stain on her face, automatically reaching his hand up to touch it.

"I'm fine." Emily snapped back, swatting his hand away with her own and reaching up to try and rub the dried blood away herself. "It's just a nose bleed." She added, once she saw the worry in his eyes.

"Emily I honestly am sorry for how I treated you... I just... I didn't like seeing you like that." He told her, wishing that he could find the words to tell her what he meant.

"Oh yea, this case must have been so tough on you." Emily spat sarcastically.

They sat in silence then, Hotch trying to decide what to say, and Emily wanting to go back in time and change the last couple of days.

"Emily," Hotch started finally, "when I saw you standing in my office looking like a drown rat, a little part of me died because I knew you were hurting, and when you told me about Matthew... I made a vow that I'd do anything I could to help you get through it."

"Oh well you kept that promise." Emily muttered sarcastically.

"I know it may not seem like I was on your side, but I was... I had to make sure that you didn't do something that would ruin your career, because from what I've heard, Matthew wouldn't want you to ruin your life over him." Hotch told her, seeing tears form in Emily's eye as he spoke. "And it's not like I left you high and dry... it was me who told Dave to talk to you... I knew he wouldn't push you to tell if you weren't ready and that he wouldn't judge you if you did... I'm just sorry it wasn't me who could do all that instead." He told her, hoping she'd understand.

Emily sniffled a little after hearing this, and Hotch wiped a tear from her face while he waited for her reply.

"I know you only had my best interests at heart." She told him once she'd composed herself. "I just wish it was you I'd talked to and not Dave... I mean he's one of my closest friends, but it was you I needed." She told him sadly.

"I know Emily... and I am truly sorry I wasn't there for you, can you forgive me?" He asked, still a little uncertain as to whether or not he'd done enough.

"Yea, I think I can... just promise you'll never freeze me out like that again... with everything else that was going on I could have done without that." She told him.

"Never again... I promise." Hotch told her, as he took her hands in his own and gave them a small squeeze. "Though now that I am in loving boyfriend mode again, do you want to talk?" He asked her, knowing that she probably hadn't fully vented with Dave.

"I don't know." She told him truthfully. "I mean I thought I'd dealt with my past... but seeing Matthew, lying on that slab, and meeting John again, it made me realise how much of my past I've been hiding from, and how scared I've been of it." She whispered.

"Hey!" Hotch exclaimed, "You, Emily Prentiss, are one of the bravest people I know." He told her truthfully.

"You have to say that, you're my boyfriend." She said with a small laugh.

Hotch sighed, one of the few flaws Emily had was her low self esteem... it was a well hidden flaw, but a flaw none the less... and it was probably to do with her childhood, but whatever it was it sometimes annoyed Hotch when she put herself down like that.

"Emily, Promise me you'll always remember one thing;" He said as he pulled her closer to him, placing her hands on his heart. "You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." He told her, watching as a small smile crept over her face.

"Christopher Robin said that too Pooh." She laughed after a moment. "You're not the only one who reads to Jack you know." She added.

"Well I don't care who said it, they make a good point, because Emily you are one hundred times greater than you think you are." Hotch told her with a faint smile.

Once he said this, the smile fell off Emily's face and more tears swelled in her eyes.

"You know I think you're the sweetest man I've ever had the fortune of falling in love with." She told him sincerely.

"Good, because you're the greatest woman I've ever fallen in love with." He replied, before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a warm hug, placing soft kisses in her hair.  
_

Done... this was quite a depressing chapter, but don't worry, the next one will make up for it! Ok I also realised I didn't mention how Reid and Austin were getting on in this chapter, but it didn't seem suitable, so I'm going to mention it in the next chapter as well. Tell me your thoughts! =)


	22. Family Fun

Ok so as promised this chapter is going to be happy and I promised Reid and Austin! So I thought what better way to do that than have a chapter with the team plus Jack in it! (YAY). This is after "Omnivore" though so I'm going to deal with that as well... I just didn't want to give that episode a whole chapter to itself because I promised happiness in this chapter, and that's what you're going to get!

It's still March 2009 (its right after they get back from the case). Emily is 38 and Hotch is 43.  
_

"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together." – Erma Bombeck  
_

"Are you sure you're ok?" Emily asked from Hotch's couch, as she watched him move around the room slowly, putting a DVD in the machine and then moving back to curl up beside her under the blanket.

"I guess." He responded quietly, as he absentmindedly ran his hands through her hair.

"Wow, way to lie to me." Emily snorted, tilting her head back so she could look him in the eye. "Go on; tell me what the matter is."

"I just... I can't help but feel that Foyet's out to get me personally... I mean when he escaped, it's like he has a plan, and I can't help but feel like I'm a part of it." Hotch confessed.

"He probably does have a plan, he's too smart not to, and you probably will play a part in it, I mean you refused to take his deal... but whatever he throws at us we can beat him, so don't worry." Emily reassured him.

"You're right." Hotch sighed after a moment. "I just can't help thinking about it though." He admitted.

"Well, you have Jack this weekend." Emily told him. "So how about we go on a team picnic to get your mind off it?" She asked.

"Sounds good to me." Hotch told her. "Now let's watch this DVD." He added, before giving her a kiss on the forehead and hitting play.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Hotch and Emily walked across the park to where the team were sitting, with Jack clutching their hands. Every now and then on Jacks request, the pair would swing him up in the air, sending the small boy into fits of giggles.

"Here come Em, Hotch and Jack." Rossi said once seen the three of them approach.

"Aw," said Garcia, causing the whole team to look. "They look like a proper family." She commented as Emily and Hotch swung Jack again.

The rest of the team just smiled and nodded in agreement as the Emily, Hotch and Jack finally joined the rest group, sitting down on one of the blankets that had been laid out.

"Hey guys." Emily said once she sat down beside Hotch, pulling Jack onto her lap as she spoke.

"Hey." The rest of the team replied almost at the same time.

"Where's Reid?" Hotch asked, looking around and noticing that he wasn't here yet.

"Your guess is as good as ours, boy wonder just said that he'd be a little late, but it would be worth it." Garcia informed him.

"Hm, wonder what that's about." Emily mused, causing the rest of the team to shrug their shoulders.

"Aunty Jen." Jack spoke up after a moment.

"Yes sweetheart?" JJ asked looking down at the small boy.

"Oo said oo had a suwpwise fow me." Jack reminded her, eyes widening in anticipation.

"That's right I do." JJ said, nudging Will in the side as she spoke, indicating for him to get Henry out of his pram. "This is your little cousin Henry." JJ told him happily, as Will walked round and carefully placed Henry in Jacks arms, with some help from Emily.

"Weally!" Jack exclaimed as he looked down at the little bundle in his arms.

"Yup, so it's up to you to look after him." JJ said, as she looked down at the pair.

"I pwomise I will." Jack told her, nodding his head seriously as he spoke and causing the team to laugh.

After a while JJ took Henry back and placed him in his pram again so Jack and the rest of the team could eat some of the food that had been brought along.

"No way!" Garcia squeaked after a while.

"What's the matter baby girl?" Morgan asked, earning a small glare from Kevin when he called Garcia by her nickname.

"Look look, look!" She exclaimed, pointing across the park excitedly.

The rest of the group turned their heads so fast that some of them probably pulled muscles, and their jaws nearly hit the ground when the saw Reid walking across the park holding the hand of an unknown woman.

"Well I'll be damned!" Rossi exclaimed as he watched the pair approach.

"I didn't think he'd actually call her." Morgan commented, slightly shocked that their teasing had actually lead to Reid calling Austin.

The rest of the team just watched as Reid and Austin made their way slowly towards them, each smiling shyly as they approached.

"Uh, guy's this is Austin." Reid informed the team once they reached the rest of the team. "And Austin, this is the team, plus Will, Kevin, Henry and Jack." He added.

"Hi." Austin said shyly, with a small wave.

"Well hello there Austin." Garcia chirped. "Come and have a seat so we can begin to quiz you properly."

"I would say, she's only joking... but she's not." Emily told her when she seen the shocked and slightly scared look on Austin's face. "Though don't worry she's not as scary as she seems." She added with a smile.

"Well um, Austin's only here for the weekend so I was hoping we could just relax and leave the 'grilling her' until next time she's in DC." Reid asked the team hopefully.

"Really, so you're going to be in DC again to see Spence." JJ asked with a sly smile, completely ignoring what Reid had just said.

Reid rolled his eyes as he sat down with Austin... he should have known getting her to meet the team wouldn't be as simple as he thought!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"So, how do you think Austin survived the team's grilling?" Emily asked with a smile, as she lay curled up in bed beside Hotch later that night, her arms across his chest, with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"I think she survived... though Reid almost didn't, especially when Garcia started asking more personal questions." Hotch replied, laughing at the memory of Reid's face when Garcia had asked how well he 'preformed'.

"Yea, I'm pretty sure he needed an ice pack for his cheeks." Emily laughed.

"I know I almost felt sorry for him." Hotch agreed. "Though today did help me take my mind off things... thank you." He added, kissing her hair softly.

"Hm, I'm glad my idea worked... though I had no real doubt it would." Emily laughed.

"Jeez, full of yourself aren't you." Hotch chuckled, as he rolled her onto his chest, causing her to giggle.

"Well with ideas like mine, why wouldn't I be?" Emily teased.

"Hm, any more of them great ideas up there?" Hotch asked as he kissed her soundly.

"I can think of one or two." Emily replied huskily, once they broke apart.

"Think? I'd prefer if you showed me." Hotch teased, before he kissed her again, this time with more passion.

"With a kiss like that, how can I refuse?" Emily murmured, when they broke apart for air.  
_

Ok so this chapter had a lot of the team in it (which isn't a bad thing), so I added the scene at the end to balance it out a little, hope you liked... in fact tell me if you liked! =)


	23. Don't Ever Leave Me

Right so it's after the events of "Faceless, Nameless" now, and Emily and Hotch have a talk while he's in hospital. By the way, another two "Winnie the Pooh" quotes prompted this chapter (what can I say... I like "Winnie the Pooh"!).

It's September 2009, Emily is 38 and Hotch is 43.

"If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you."  
"Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would I'd never leave."  
- Winnie the Pooh (both of them).  
_

Emily walked back towards Hotch's room and just caught the end of the conversation between Dave and Hotch. Her heart broke when she thought of not seeing Jack for ten years or possibly more, and she knew the pain Hotch was in would be ten times worse.

She was determine to help him through this but she knew that he could easily push her away and shut himself off.

"Is he ok?" Emily asked quietly to Dave, once the older man left the room.

"Honestly Em, he's depressed, but I know if anyone can pull him out of it, it's you." He told her with a weak smile.

"Thanks." She whispered, before giving her friend and mentor a hug and walking into Hotch's room, standing uncertainly at the bottom of the bed.

Hotch, who'd been resting his eyes and trying to think of anything except what had happened, sensed her presence in the room and opened them slowly, half smiling when he saw her.

"I'm so sorry." Emily whispered hoarsely once she seen his eyes open.

"Don't worry, I wasn't sleeping." He informed her, even though he could sense that wasn't what she was apologising for.

"I know you weren't... I'm sorry for not going back to your place with you... I'm sorry for not coming to get you sooner." She told him, fighting the urge to cry as she spoke.

"Emily, none of that was your fault, so don't blame yourself, you couldn't have helped me anyway... in fact if you'd been there he'd probably have killed you, and then I'd be ten times worse off." He informed her.

"I know... you're right, I just... it just scared me so much that I might lose you." Emily confessed quietly, looking down at her hands as she spoke.

"Emily, you honestly didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily, did you?" Hotch questioned playfully.

"Seriously Aaron, I don't know what I'd do without you. I can't imagine my life without you in it!" Emily snapped sadly, remembering the fear when she'd seen the blood stain on the floor of his apartment.

"Emily come here." Hotch told her, extending his arm to her.

She walked around the bed slowly and took his hand, letting him lead her around until she was standing at his side. He then tugged her arm gently and she carefully sat on the bed beside him, letting him drape his arm around her waist.

"I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to never leave your side, and to always be there for you until the day I die." He told her sincerely, looking deep into her dark brown eyes as he spoke.

"Well that's all I could ever hope for." Emily whispered as she leant down and gave him a small but passionate kiss on the lips.

Emily then lay down beside Hotch and curled into his side carefully, just knowing that he was there beside her enough to make the fear she'd been feeling all day immediately leave her.

"You know it's bad for you to keep your emotions all bottled up?" Emily said after a while, tilting her head up slightly so she could see him.

"I don't know what you mean." Hotch lied, not quite looking her in the eye as he spoke.

"I know you lied to me earlier when you said you didn't remember anything, and I also know you probably don't want to talk about that right now, but bottling things up isn't healthy, and I for one should know that, so I'm here for you when and if you feel like talking." She told him quietly.

"You're right... but I'm not ready to talk about it yet, when I am though I will tell you, I promise." He informed her with a sigh.

"Thank you." She whispered, giving him a small kiss on the jaw. "Is there anything you would like to talk about?" She asked again, seeing the look in his eye and knowing there was something he was thinking about.

"Jack..." He replied simply, looking down at her sadly with a face of sadness and guilt all rolled into one.

Once he said this Emily sat up in the bed again and turned so she was facing Hotch, before she began to speak, knowing that she needed to get this message through to him.

"Aaron you don't need to worry about Jack, he'll be just fine with the US Marshall." Emily reassured him.

"I know that and I'm not worried about his actual safety... it's just, what if we don't catch Foyet? What if in ten, or twenty years we still haven't caught him and Jack doesn't even remember me?" Hotch informed Emily sadly.

"That won't happen." Emily told him firmly, knowing from what she heard of Hotch's earlier conversation with Dave that he was scared encase this did happen.

"But how can you be sure? How do you know that Foyet won't go back into hiding?" Hotch asked, a single tear rolling down his face at the thought of never seeing his son again.

"I don't know what Foyet will do Aaron, nobody does except him... but one thing I do know is, no matter what happens Haley will never let Jack forget you, never! I also know that your son is going to try his very best to remember you, because he loves you dearly." Emily told him.

"But..." Hotch began, still not fully convinced.

"But nothing Aaron. Do you know what Jack asked me when Haley was in here talking to you?" Emily asked, continuing when Hotch shook his head. "He asked me to make sure that no matter what, I'd never let you forget him because then you'd be doubly sad." She told him, wiping her own tear away as she spoke. "And I told him that as long as he remembered you, that you'd remember him and even if he forgot that he could ask his mom to remember... so don't worry Aaron, as long as you love that little boy, he'll love you too."

"Thank you." Hotch replied hoarsely after a moment, not trusting himself to talk out loud.

"For what? Telling Jack the truth?" Emily replied with a small smile.

"Yes... and for being so wonderful." Hotch replied.

"My pleasure." Emily replied softly, taking his hand in her own and kissing his palm, before lying down beside him in the bed again and closing her eyes.  
_

There we go! I realised that I've never had Hotch cry before so I had him cry (a little) here at the thought of losing Jack. Next chapter is going to be Hotch telling Emily what happened so stay tuned. Well that's all I have to say really, except review the chapter please. =)


	24. Talking things over

Ok, so this chapter is after "Haunted". Like I promised in the last chapter, Hotch is going to talk to Emily about getting attacked in this chapter, so it's not going to be very light hearted! I'm also going to deal with the way Hotch was acting in this episode (a.k.a like a loose cannon).

It's October 2009. Emily is 39 (I didn't write a birthday chapter for her this time because her birthday falls at a bad time for Hotch) and Hotch is 43.  
_

"Talking isn't doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well; and yet words are not deeds." – William Shakespeare.  
_

Emily sighed as she knocked on Hotch's door the morning he was due to come back to work.

She hated the fact that even though they'd been going out for just over a year, that she had to knock on his door... even with her key, the chain he now had in place kept her locked out unless he wanted her in, much like his stoic exterior was shutting her out of his head.

Not that she'd been around at his place much in the thirty six days he'd been away, work taking up most of her time and the fact that he was becoming more and more distant from her also proving a problem.

She heard the television being switched off so she put on her work mask, knowing that he'd be at the door any second, and also knowing that he wouldn't want to talk now.

"Hey." He said to her casually once he opened the door, immediately turning away before she had a chance to reply.

"Hey." Emily replied cheerily, refusing to let his coldness get to her... well it was getting to her, just now wasn't the time to show it.

"What do we know about this case in Kentucky?" Hotch asked, as he went over to pick up his briefcase.

Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes when he asked this. Not even a 'how are you'... to the outside world they wouldn't even look like friends, never mind a couple!

"There's no connection between Call and his victims. Louisville PD's covered the city, but there hasn't been... and sign of him since he left the pharmacy." Emily replied, faltering slightly when she seen the Foyet case files on the coffee table.

She hadn't seen them last time she was here... then again last time she was here she'd barley gotten into the house before he made up an excuse for her to leave again.

She wanted to say something to him about them... about how it wasn't healthy... but he must have known what she was going to say, because he continued asking questions, butting in when she was about to open her mouth to try and talk to him.

She was so wound up, that she almost forgot about the alarm he'd installed, thinking that he wanted to say something when he told her not to move.

"Ready?" He asked once he'd punched in the code.

"Are you?" Emily replied, not knowing whether or not him coming back to work this early was a good idea or not.

He of course didn't reply, not that she'd expected him to. Despite their relationship she knew it would take a lot more than a simple question to get him to open up fully to her.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Emily felt a lump form in her throat as she walked away from Hotch's apartment when they got home from the case.

He'd scared her half to death, and he hadn't even seemed to care that he was doing it. She'd heard how he'd shouted at Garcia and the woman in the pharmacy, and she had to stand there and listen to him lecture her and Rossi about how they could have caught Foyet, all the while wishing that he'd just tell her how he was feeling.

What had scared her most however was when he'd walked into Call's father's house without a Kevlar vest on. That sight alone had sucked the breath from her lungs and caused her heart to stop.

She didn't think he'd make it out, and when he did, and when she walked out after him she hadn't been able to speak she was so scared, she hadn't even been able to hug him she was that paralysed with fear.

But she knew that they needed to talk, so with that thought in mind she took a deep breath, turned on her heel and walked straight back to his door, knocking twice with force.

"Is everything ok?" Hotch asked once he opened the door again.

Emily ignored this question... even though she had a list as long as her arm of things that weren't all right... and walked back into the apartment, turning and glaring at Hotch once he closed the door.

"Call has Tommy, Aaron, and you have me." She told him, as tears formed in her eyes. "I'm here for you when you need me, and I always will be, but right now all you're doing is scaring me... I know you're hurting, and I know you're scared, but for Christ sakes, you've shut off, from me, from the team, from everyone, and it's scaring the crap out of us... out of me!" She shouted, hoping her message would get through to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I just can't stop thinking about it." Hotch whispered back, looking down when he spoke.

"Aaron," She whispered, walking towards him and placing a hand on his arm, "I know that you can't stop thinking about it, and that's not what's making me angry, in fact I'd be more than happy to go over the case with you when you need me to." She told him, knowing that going over the case was the only thing he could do to stay sane at the moment, "but it's not that, that's scaring me. It's the fact that you're shutting me off, it's the fact that you're not talking to anyone anymore, it's the fact that you're throwing yourself into reckless situations without thinking about the consequences... If you don't kill yourself, you're going to kill me." She told him truthfully, tears rolling slowly down her cheek.

Once Emily finished speaking Hotch looked her in the eye, seeing the pain he was causing her, and for the first time in over a month, he reached out his arms and pulled her into a comforting hug.

"I really am sorry Emily... I know I've shut you off, and I know I've stuffed up big time, but if I'm honest I think I've been doing it deliberately." He told her, as he held her close. "But it's not because I've wanted to scare you... it's because I'm scared... I'm scared that Foyet will come after you next, and that I'll lose you, and I really don't know how I'd cope if I lost you Emily." He admitted quietly.

It was then Emily's turn to look him in the eye, and when she did she dragged him over to his couch, sitting him down gently and moving over as close as possible to him.

"Aaron, Foyet wouldn't dare come after me, he knows the entire country is after him, he knows that I'm prepared so he knows that he wouldn't have the element of surprise, and he also knows that we've been going out for a year, heck we were going out when we went on the case, if he'd wanted to get me he would already, so I need you to stop worrying." She told him reassuringly.

"I know all that... I really do, but I can't help but be irrational about it." He whispered, looking down at his hands which were entwined with Emily's.

"Talking about it might help." Emily prompted gently.

"I know... but I don't know what to talk about first, there's so much." He admitted.

"Start where you feel comfortable, or if you want start at the start, tell me what happened in your apartment." Emily asked him gently, rubbing her thumb up and down the side of his hand reassuringly.

Hotch closed his eyes and took a breath, almost as if it was a cognitive interview that was taking place, though Emily didn't say this, if it helped him to open up it was fine with her.

"I went to pour myself a scotch, after the case, and he came out from behind me. He shot over my shoulder at the wall to scare me, but I wouldn't show it, I couldn't show him fear, I just couldn't let him have that." Hotch told her quietly. "We fought, and he stabbed me once, but I lied, it didn't go black, I was awake... I stared him down as he stabbed me... I counted it... nine times... by the end I could hardly feel it the pain was that numbing... and the whole time he smiled, an evil, sadistic smile. Then it really did go black." He finished, squeezing Emily's hand ever so slightly when he talked about getting stabbed.

"Thank you for telling me that." Emily told him, pulling his hand up and kissing the palm reassuringly.

"Thank you for caring enough to ask." Hotch replied, as he finally opened his eyes, which were a little misty after talking about his attack.

"I'll always care." Emily replied. "What about Jack, do you want to talk about him, or Haley?" She asked after a moment, knowing that he probably would.

"I just feel so guilty." He admitted. "I mean look what I'm putting them through, just as we were all beginning to move forward with our lives, just as Jack was beginning to accept the fact that he only seen me on weekends, and now it could be years before I see him again. Just as Haley was moving on as well, from what I'd heard, she'd even started dating again, and now I've destroyed their lives again... I mean we've been divorced for almost two years and I still have the ability to wreck her life." Hotch sighed.

"I know... but we'll get them both back ,I promise, and then you can spend the rest of your life making it up to them, just like you told them you would." Emily replied.

"I'm also going to make it up to you." Hotch whispered, leaning forward and kissing her forehead.

"There's no need to... when you love someone you'll stick by them through good and bad." Emily informed him with a small smile.

"Yes, and when you love someone you shouldn't make them go through the crap I've been putting you through for the last month." Hotch told her sadly.

"Well thank you then." Emily told him, reaching over to give him a hug.

"It's the least you deserve." Hotch whispered into her hair.  
_

Ok, I do realise that was a pretty depressing chapter, but the next one will be happier. Also just to clarify they started going out two days before Emily's birthday last year (see chapter fifteen!). Well tell me what you thought as always! =)


	25. Moving on

Right, this is after the episode "Reckoner" and there may be a surprise in this chapter, but you'll have to read to find out, he, he, he!

It's October 2009, Emily's still 39 and Hotch is still 43.  
_

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." – Walt Disney.  
_

"You have a family. When all this is over, what are you going to do to make sure you're not a lonely guy, wondering why you let the purest thing in your life... get away?" Rossi whispered dramatically, as Hotch sat and listened, knowing what he was saying was true.

After his talk with Emily he's started to treat her like she deserved and stop pushing her away... but it was easier said than done, and apparently it took David Rossi, three time divorcee, of all people, to kick his ass into gear, and he knew once and for all he had to make things right.

He waited another fifteen minutes, until Emily had moved down to a quiet part of the jet, allowing JJ to stretch out over the two seats and get some rest, before he slowly got up, and walked down to sit beside her, giving one more quick glance at Rossi before he left.

"Hey." He whispered when he sat down beside her, allowing their legs to lie against each other seeing as it was only the team on the jet.

"Hey yourself." Emily whispered back, placing down the file she'd been reading.

"Can I talk to you?" Hotch asked, taking her hands in his and placing them on his lap.

"Of course." Emily replied uncertainly, looking at their hands and wondering what was so important that they couldn't wait until they were alone.

"You know I love you." Hotch told her, looking her dead in the eye as he spoke.

"We've talked about this Aaron, I know you love me, and I love you as well." She told him, giving his hands a reassuring squeeze.

"Good, because it's important to me that you know that." Hotch whispered, for the first time looking away briefly, as if he was shy.

"What brought this on?" Emily asked, smiling slightly at his random decoration of love, but at the same time being unsettled about it.

"Something Dave said." Hotch admitted quietly. "He told me he'd known that he'd love Emma for the rest of his life, from the moment he met her, when he was twelve." He whispered.

"That's quite romantic." Emily replied, not being able to stop the smile that formed on her face when she thought of loving someone from the first time you saw them... something she'd never believed in until she met Hotch nineteen years ago.

"I thought so too." Hotch replied. "Another thing I thought though, was wow, I actually know what Dave is talking about for once."

This caused Emily to let out a small laugh, which quickly caught the attention of the rest of the team, who'd not heard Hotch or Emily laugh properly since Hotch had gotten stabbed.

"I realised that ever since I offered you a lift home nineteen years ago, that I've been falling in love with you... and of course I ignored it for almost eighteen of them years and now here I am again, trying to push away the only person I've ever truly loved, the purest thing in my life." Hotch told her.

"Aaron Hotchner, what can I say to that?" Emily joked. "I've been falling in love with you since the day you saved my ass and offered me that lift home, and the last eighteen years have shown me that I can live without you... but I sure as hell don't want to, so push all you want, I'm staying put." She smiled.

"Another thing I've realised," Hotch continued once Emily had finished talking, "is that I haven't done this to you in a very long time."

Emily looked at him confused, but Hotch just smiled, before leaning forward and kissing her softly on the lips.

Emily smiled into the kiss... the first proper one since Foyet attacked Hotch... and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and allowing him to deepen the kiss, as she played with the hair on the back of his neck and he grabbed her hips and pulled her closer, before wrapping his arms fully around her waist.

They stayed like this until an awkward cough from Reid pulled them back to reality.

They both turned, and their cheeks reddened when they saw the faces of the team, including Garcia whose face was smiling at them through the computer screen, all staring at them, looking amused.

"That was quite a show." Morgan teased, smirking at his two friends.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Hotch promised, smiling a proper two dimpled smile, for the first time in weeks, before turning back to Emily.

"Right," he started, "before I kissed you, I was telling you that I loved you Emily Prentiss, and I meant every word I said, just like I've always meant every kind word I've ever said to you... because Emily, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and after how I originally treated you, I'm honoured that you agreed to love me back... but I'm also smart, which is why I know that I need to hold on to you." Hotch told her, still smiling from ear to ear.

"Well it's about time!" Rossi joked, as the rest of the team nodded in agreement, each of them having seen the pain Hotch had been putting Emily through for the last few weeks.

"I know, you're right, and I know that if I mess this up, you guys will have my head." Hotch said to the team, watching them nod their heads, agreeing with what he was saying. "Ok... well in that case... Emily I've something to ask you." He told her, pulling something out of his jacket pocket.

The entire team, plus Emily let their mouths hang open slightly as Hotch done this, none of them one hundred per cent sure what they could expect.

"I don't have a ring, so you can all close your mouths." Hotch smirked as he looked at the people around him. "Right now, with everything that's going on, I can't promise you a wedding, all I can promise you is that I want to spend the rest of my living days with you and the way I see it, the only smart way to do that, is to give you this." Hotch told Emily, opening up his hand and revealing a small silver key.

"Aaron... Is that the key to your apartment?" Emily asked after she'd finally realised what was going on.

"Yes it is... though I'll need it back, because I haven't actually cut you one yet, that's mine... but the second we get home, I promise you I will." He told her, smiling at her as she reached into his hand and accepted the temporary gift.

"Are... are you asking me to move in?" Emily asked him, obviously still in shock at the fact that her boyfriend, who'd been closing off from the world for the last few months, had finally opened up again.

Whatever Dave had said to him, Emily was definitely buying him a drink sometime to thank him!

"Well that is the general idea sweetheart." Hotch joked. "I want you to think of it as a promise," he said, suddenly serious again, "that someday... when all this is over... I will propose, and someday I'll stand at the bottom of an aisle and wait for you, and some day... we're going to grow old together." He said, looking into her eyes, and deep into her soul.

"Aw shoot," Emily sighed, "you're going to make me cry in front of the team." She laughed, wiping the tears out of her eyes.

"Don't worry; you're not the only one who's crying." JJ sniffled as she wiped her own tears away, before motioning to the computer screen, where Garcia was sitting with makeup streaming down her face, and a large smile on her face.

"Cutest... Moment... Ever!" Garcia managed to say in between her tears of happiness for her two friends.

The whole team laughed at this and nodded their heads in agreement, each of them knowing from even before Hotch and Emily started dating, that they were meant for each other.  
_

Ok so I hope you liked the chapter... I wasn't too sure if now was the right time for Emily to move in, but I decided she should because Hotch needs someone to keep him sane and after this episode I noticed Hotch return to normal a bit, so that was my reason for it. Tell me what you thought. =)


	26. Moving in

Ok so this is all about Emily moving in with Hotch. Of course the team have been roped in to help out.

I've also decided that until "100" (or "Outfoxed" if I decide to do a chapter for that episode) Hotch is going to go back to the way he was before he was stabbed, a.k.a happy, because writing all this angst and sorrow is starting to depress me. So this chapter and the next one (and maybe the one after that) is going to be happy, happy, happy! YAY!

It's October 2009, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 43... Still.  
_

"Living together is an art." – William Pickens.  
_

"Damn it Emily have you been on a killing spree or something!" Morgan exclaimed as he lifted one of her many suitcases out of her car.

"Why the hell are you asking me that?" Emily asked, giving him a blank stare, as she reached into the trunk of her car and pulled out a bag containing clothes.

"Because there's either a body in this suitcase or you've decided to take your brick collection to Hotch's place with you!" Morgan told her, as he struggled slightly with the case.

"Nope... I'm pretty sure there's books in that one." Emily told him, looking at the case.

"Aw, don't tell me Macho Morgan can't lift a few itty bitty books." JJ teased as she skipped past him carrying a box that contained a few pictures.

"Aw 'Hot Stuff' don't listen to them, they're just jealous of this." Garcia flirted, grabbing Morgan's upper arm as she walked past with another bag of clothes.

"Here, I'll carry this end an' you carry that'n'." Will told him in his thick accent, as he took the right end of the case, almost dropping it however when the weight hit him.

"Damn it honey, how much books do ya read?" Will exclaimed to Emily who was walking past.

"Oh for god sakes, it's a case of books... suck it up and carry it in!" She told them as she walked past.

JJ, Emily, Garcia, Morgan and Will... who were still struggling slightly, but refusing to show it... made their way down to Hotch's apartment, where Hotch and Rossi were assembling a new bed in Hotch's room, as Reid read out the instructions.

"How's the bed assembly going?" Emily asked Austin and Kevin, who were unwrapping the few ornaments Emily had brought from her place in the sitting room.

"For Christ sakes Reid! You've told us to connect the two posts at right angles three times now, read the next bloody instruction!" Rossi could be heard shouting from the room in sheer frustration.

"Dave just ignore Reid, if you turn around again the whole damn bed is going to collapse, and I'm not starting from scratch again." Hotch snapped.

"That's how it's going." Kevin told them with a bemused smile.

"Right... um next instruction... uh wait a second, I lost where I was reading from..." Reid stammered.

"Reid I swear to god I'll shoot you if you don't read out the next instruction within five seconds!" Rossi bellowed. "One... two... three..."

"I think it's time us ladies took over in there." Emily said, dropping her clothes bag in a corner.

"Yea, I like Spencer more when he doesn't have a bullet wound in his chest." Austin agreed, as she placed down the vase she'd just taken out of a box and began to follow Emily into the room, with JJ and Garcia close behind.

"Emily, why the hell do you and Hotch need a new bed? Was the one he had before not perfectly all right?" Rossi exclaimed once Emily and the other women walked in the bedroom door.

"It was alright... if the people sleeping in it were very small." Emily told him innocently.

"Or if they were actually sleeping." Garcia added under her breath, earning a glare from Hotch and Emily and a laugh from everyone else in the room.

"Plus when Jack comes back, he's probably going to jump on top of us at five o clock every single morning, like he used to." Emily added, "So we'll need room for three."

"And eventually four and five and six." Hotch added with a wink, in a visibly better mood than he had been for the last number of weeks... having the team around him, and his girlfriend moving in having really lifted his spirits.

"Pfft, speak for yourself... four and five maybe, but six! What the hell do you think I am?" Emily joked, happy that Hotch was finally coming back out of his shell and turning back into the man she loved.

"Ok, as interesting as it is for the two of you to talk babies, there's only three legs on this bed, and if I move my hand there'll be no bed at all, so can we please get back to work?" Rossi asked as he looked between the two.

"Ok, you three," JJ said, pointing at Rossi, Hotch and Reid, "Need to get out of here before someone gets hurt... we'll take over from here and you can help Will, Morgan and Kevin take in the rest of the stuff." She commanded.

The three men didn't argue with the women's orders... not wanting to see another bed unless they were going to be sleeping in it... and all three rushed out to help the others, Reid saying to show Austin what instruction he had been on before following the others out.

"Men!" Emily sighed as she looked at the sorry excuse for a bed in front of her.

"Oh god!" Austin exclaimed. "Reid skipped number three, we need to start over." She told the women.

"Honey, have you seen the sate of this... we were going to have to start over anyway." Garcia laughed, as he began to unscrew one of the legs.

"Why do we ever trust men with things?" JJ asked the others dramatically as she began to place all pieces of the bed that were the same into separate piles, instead of the jumble they had been in.

"We like the challenge of cleaning up after them." Emily supplied as she began unscrewing the other leg on the bed.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Fifteen minutes later the women reappeared from the room, looking pleased with themselves, to find the men had just finished bringing the last box in from outside, and had almost everything put away.

"Tell me you aren't done already!" Hotch exclaimed when he seen the smug looks on the women's faces.

"Aw sorry honey... we were even taking our time so as not to show you up to much." Emily teased, placing a kiss on the side of his shocked looking face, and leaning against him happily, wrapping her arm around his waist and letting his arm slide around her waist as well.

"How can that even be possible?" Rossi asked the group, also in shock.

"Well Spencer may have accidentally skipped the third instruction... so I'm guessing that's what threw you of." Austin supplied the men.

"I'm going to bloody hang, draw and quarter you!" Rossi growled at a frightened looking Reid, who immediately jumped behind Morgan and Will, using their bodies as shields.

"Sorry Reid, but my guns at home, so I'm not gettin' between you an' a federal agent." Will told Reid before jumping out of the way swiftly.

"Chicken." JJ teased, nudging Will in the ribs when he stood beside her.

"See that don't even hurt my feelin's anymore Cher, 'cause I know deep down you don't mean it." Will teased back, wrapping his arms around JJ's waist from behind.

JJ rolled her eyes but leant back against Will anyway, resting her head between his neck and his shoulder.

"Ok, well all this work's making me hungry... where we eating?" Morgan asked after a second, his stomach grumbling in agreement.

"There's a pizza place around the corner from here, I'll call them now if you lot give me your orders." Hotch told the room, walking over to the phone as he spoke.

~.~.~.~.~.~

It wasn't until much later that evening that Hotch and Emily finally managed to get the team to leave, insisting that they could do the remainder of the unpacking themselves... because the second the pizza was delivered all thoughts off unpacking everything went out the window, in favour of unwinding after a stressful couple of months.

"Well, my first day living with you and it looks like I'm going to spend it cleaning up pizza boxes." Emily sighed dramatically, but not really minding.

"Hm, looks like it." Hotch agreed as he surveyed his once clean living room, that now had dozens of empty soda cans and ten almost empty pizza boxes... because apparently no two people liked the same flavoured pizza... scattered across the floor.

"Oh well," Emily sighed as she stooped down to pick up a few of the soda cans, "the sooner we get this cleaned up, the sooner we can test how well the bed was actually made." She told Hotch with a wink.

"Now I like the sound of that." Hotch said with a smile, as he too bent down and picked up two of the pizza boxes.

The pair worked silently for a moment, both of them feeling completely natural and comfortable cleaning THEIR apartment and both relishing in the fact that they could finally say that. It wasn't until Emily spoke again that the silence was broken.

"Eww!" She exclaimed as she lifted Reid's pizza box. "I know Reid has some weird food preferences, but chicken and sweet corn? Really?" She said as she looked into the box.

"You think that's bad." Hotch replied. "I can beat you hands down, look." He said as he shoved Rossi's grape and pickle pizza under Emily's nose.

"What kind of friends do we have?" Emily laughed as she turned her head away from Rossi's pizza before it turned her stomach.

"The best kind." Hotch replied honestly as he placed the pizza box in the bin bag that was lying on the floor. "The kind you put up with my crap for months on end, and still agree to help out when we ask them at the last second."

"That's not friends Aaron... that's family." Emily told him, placing the last pizza box into the bag as she spoke. "Now how about we go and test the bed that our family made." She added with a smile, before dragging him to the bedroom.  
_

Ok so I'm not sure about the ending of this one, but I'll leave that up to you to decide on. Ok, chicken and sweet corn pizza tastes nice, but looks really icky (my cousin eats it all the time!) and as for grape and pickle it actually looks lovely but I personally can't stomach it at all! Tell me what you thought. =)


	27. Decision Making

Ok so this chapter is about the episode "Cradle to Grave" which is of course the episode where Hotch has to step down! I'm going to try my best to keep this chapter light hearted like I promised, though there may be one or two sadder scenes... sorry!

This chapter is dedicated to AJ and Paget, who we need to support!

It's still October 2009, Emily's 39 and Hotch is 43  
_

"Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work." – H. L. Hunt.  
_

Emily's head rose up from the couch slowly as she heard a key scraping in the lock of the door. She muted the movie she'd been watching and sat up properly as Hotch walked in the door, throwing his briefcase to one side and sliding his jacket of and hanging it over the back of the couch as he came to stand over Emily.

"You're home late tonight." Emily commented. "Is there a new case?" She asked when she seen the look on his face, knowing that a look like that and being home late normally meant a case.

"Nope, something even better than a case." Hotch told her sarcastically, causing Emily's eyebrow to rise. "Straus decided to drop in before I left to have a little chat." He told her with a sigh.

"Oh," Emily winced, "that can't have been much fun!"

"It wasn't." Hotch clarified as he walked around the couch and sat down on the edge of it beside Emily, letting her move behind him and place her hands on his shoulders, starting to massage them slowly to relieve the stress.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asked quietly as she pulled at his shoulder and back muscles.

"There's not much to talk about." Hotch told her as he leant back into her arms. "She wants me to step down as team leader." He finished, bracing himself for what was about to happen.

"What?" Emily exclaimed suddenly, pulling her arms away from his back and jumping of the couch to stand in front of him. "Tell me I just heard you wrong and that, that witch... no, that evil cow, isn't making you step down!" She shouted, fury burning in her eyes. "I swear to god if I get my hands on her..."

"Ok sweety, calm down, it's not the end of the world just yet." Hotch told her, pulling her down to sit in his lap, and smiling at the passion she was showing towards the situation.

"No but it'll be the end of that sadistic woman's life if she doesn't change her mind." Emily muttered fiercely, anger still glinting in her eyes.

"Look Em, just think about it." Hotch tried to reason, trying not to laugh at the fact that he was having to calm her down when really it should be the other way around. "If I step down temporary... because it will only be temporary... then Foyet will think I'm falling apart, therefore he'll let his guard down just a little and we can be closer to catching him." He told her.

"I hate it when you're reasonable." She told him, calming down a bit. "It sucks the fun right out of life."

"Yes, because I'm sure it would have been fun explaining why you killed the section chief, when as far as the Bureau is concerned, our relationship is a professional one only." Hotch smirked.

"See there you go again... kill joy." Emily told him, before leaning in and kissing him soundly on the lips.

"What was that for?" Hotch asked with a smile once they broke apart.

"Well despite the brave facade you're putting on, I'm sure you're slightly pissed at our dear section chief, so I thought I'd cheer you up." Emily informed him. "Though if you don't want me too... " She added, but she was cut off when Hotch leaned up and captured her lips again.

~.~.~.~.~

Three days later Emily swung open the apartment door and let out a relieved sigh now that the most recent case was finally over. She flung her go bag in the corner before making her way towards the fridge to find anything of sustenance to eat after the long flight back.

She was about to pull out two microwave dinners... cooking not being her strong point... when she remembered the way Hotch had been treating Morgan on the case, and flung one back into the fridge, knowing that if her hunch was right... which it normally was when it came to Hotch... he'd currently be training Morgan for the job, so wouldn't be home for a while.

So instead she put one microwave dinner in the microwave... talk about flashbacks to her single days... and poured herself a glass of wine, planning to unwind a little in front of the television.

She ate her dinner quickly and was curled up on the couch, half ways though "Breakfast at Tiffany's" when she finally heard the door open behind her. She paused he movie but instead of lifting her head up of the couch to greet Hotch she lay and waited for him to walk around to her, sitting down at her feet when he did.

"Rough day?" She asked when she seen his face... though really it was more of a statement as not only did they just get back from a case, but Hotch had just spent the day training Morgan for a job that he loved.

"Well we got the couple we were after, and family's got reunited, so not really."Hotch told her, obviously avoiding the subject of his job, as he tried to distract Emily by massaging her feet through her socks.

"I mean training Morgan." Emily replied, refusing to let him brush it off, and refusing to let his fingers easing the cramps out of her toes distract her.

"How did you know I picked him?" Hotch asked in shock, stopping the massage momentarily.

"You obviously forgot who you're talking to." Emily smirked. "I'm a kick ass profiler and your girlfriend Aaron, so I kind of noticed the fact that you either decided that you hate Morgan, or you were testing him... and due to the fact that he's one of your closest friends I went for option two." She informed him, her smirk still firmly in place.

"God I hate profilers." Hotch muttered, as a small smile spread across his face, and he resumed his calming massage.

"Self loathing Aaron? That's never a good sign...should I be hiding all possible murder weapons around the apartment." Emily teased.

"Oh ha, ha." Hotch replied dryly. "Though don't tell Morgan that you know, he wants to tell you guy's himself because he's not sure how you're going to react to him 'stealing' my job." He added with a sigh.

"Don't worry my lips are sealed... I'm not happy about the situation, but I'm glad it's Morgan and not some idiot that couldn't run a race, never mind our team." Emily told him sincerely.

"You and me both." Hotch replied as he lifted Emily's legs and placed them across his thighs as he sat on the couch more comfortably.

"Do you want to watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' with me?" Emily questioned in amusement when she saw his eyes dart towards the screen, knowing that Hotch secretly loved old movies, and even though this one wasn't black and white it was still a pretty good movie.

"Would I say no to a classic movie and good company?" Hotch questioned back, as he slid in behind her on the couch, wrapping his arms around her waist securely and pulling her flush against him.

"Obviously not." Emily replied happily as she hit play.  
_

The petition:  
http:/ www . petition online . com/ cmwomen  
(no spaces)

Voice your thoughts:  
http:/ criminalminds fanatic . blogspot . com/ 2010/06/ criminal-minds-anyone-have-opinion . html  
(No spaces)

Complain to CBS:  
http:/ www . cbs . com/info/ user_services/fb_global_form . php  
(No spaces)

Please help out ladies! =)

By the way, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is my all time favourite movie and I advise anyone who hasn't seen it to watch it because it is awesome!

Tell me what you thought! =)


	28. Mother!

Right this is the next chapter and this one's after "The Performer". Ok so I promised a few happy chapters before "100" so this is another happy chapter... well it's not happy, more of a funny chapter really, as it's now time for Hotch to meet the Ambassador!

It's November 2009, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 44 (I didn't do a birthday chapter for him because I didn't do one for Emily so I wanted to make it fair.)  
_

If you don't believe in ghosts, you've never been to a family reunion. – Ashleigh Brilliant  
_

The team were still joking and laughing about Reid's lack of pop culture knowledge, and the fact that Hotch's taste in music was the same as a serial killer's when Emily's phone began to wring loudly.

"The Jaw's theme tune is your ring tone?" Rossi asked in amusement when he heard the familiar tone begin to play inside Emily's pocket.

"Only if it's this person who's wringing me." Emily sighed before taking her phone out of her pocket and answering it. "Hello Mother." She sighed into the mouth piece.

Upon hearing this, the team could hardly contain themselves as they pinched their noses and covered their mouths to contain their laughter at the theme tune Emily had picked for her mother, not to mention the extremely angry look on Emily's face.

Emily's side of the conversation... which consisted of her saying "yes mother" and "no mother"... didn't do much to stop their laughter, especially due to the faces Emily pulled each time she spoke.

It wasn't for another ten minutes, until Emily finally hung up the phone that the team burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter earning each of them a glare.

"You do realise that someone with a concussion shouldn't be holding in so much laughter." JJ finally managed to tell her once her laughter had calmed down.

"You do realise that it's even worse to piss off a woman who's just had a conversation with my mother." Emily shot back, still obviously angry.

"Now Em, calm down it can't be that bad." Hotch told her in amusement.

"You're right sweetheart, it's not." Emily replied in a sickly sweet voice. "Because when I go to the embassy on Sunday for dinner with her to welcome her back to the country, I'm going to be introducing her to my boyfriend... I wonder will she approve." She told him, her lips slowly curling into an evil smile at the look of horror on Hotch's face.

"Aw, man you've been owned." Morgan laughed as he too seen the look on Hotch's face.

"But... but Emily you can't..." Hotch started, but he stopped trying to think of an actual reason not to meet Emily's mother. "I have to work." He tried lamely.

"Nope, that won't work, you've been going out with me for over a year now, and we've lived together for a month, most people would have met their girlfriends mothers several times by now, you're just lucky she's been in Japan for a year." Emily replied, resisting the urge to laugh at the look on Hotch's face.

"But I have met her! I worked for her remember!" Hotch exclaimed, hoping this would get him out of the meeting.

"Aaron, you worked for her for a few weeks when you were twenty six, and I was twenty... that's really not the same as meeting her now, we weren't even a couple then." She replied with a smirk.

"But she still knows me." Hotch said, hoping in vain that if he pleaded enough Emily wouldn't make him go.

"Aaron, you're coming with me to the embassy if I have to tie you up and drag you there myself." Emily informed him, not looking the least bit sorry for him... she'd had to put up with thirty nine years of her mother, he could manage one day.

Hotch was about to reply to this when he seen the head shakes from the rest of the team, each of them silently advising him to go along with it unless he wanted to be sleeping on the couch for the rest of his life.

"Fine then, I'll go, just don't expect me to be happy about it." Hotch finally agreed, shooting Emily a half hearted glare as he spoke.

"I knew you'd agree eventually." Emily replied happily, with a smug grin on her face.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Two days later Hotch fidgeted awkwardly with the cufflinks he was wearing on his black tux, with nothing around his neck for a change, instead leaving the two top buttons of his crisp white shirt open, as he stood outside the doors of the embassy, waiting for them to open, his arm linked through Emily's.

He looked over at Emily briefly and had to admit, that even he would be willing to go to dinner with Emily's mother more often if Emily dressed like the way she was now, every time they went... not that she didn't look beautiful all the time anyway, but tonight she was exceptional!

She was currently wearing a mid thigh, sequenced ruby red dress, which draped down at the back, to just above her ass. Her shoes were the same ruby red colour, also with sequence, and her hair was up in a bun at the back with lose curls falling around her face.

"You look stunning you know." Hotch whispered to her quietly as they stood and waited.

"What are you saying I normally look horrible?" Emily teased.

"No, you always look beautiful; you just look stunning as well tonight... I think it's my second favourite look on you." He told her, letting lose a dimple that made her blush.

"You sure know the way to a girl's heart." Emily told him happily. "And what do you mean this is your second favourite look?" She added in amusement.

"Well my favourite is the 'just out of bed' look, when your hair is messy and your eyes still aren't opened fully, and you come stumbling into the kitchen wearing one of my shirts or your penguin pyjamas, and your face scrunches up when you ask the time and yawn." He informed her lovingly.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Emily sighed happily as she leant against Hotch's shoulder.

Hotch was about to reply that it was him that was truly lucky when the doors of the embassy swung open suddenly, causing Emily's head to jolt of his shoulder in shock.

"Emily!" Ambassador Prentiss called the second she saw her daughter, immediately pulling her into a warm hug and completely ignoring Hotch, who instead stood on the doorstep feeling out of place.

"Hello mother." Emily replied stiffly once her mother pulled away. "Um, you know Aaron Hotchner don't you." She added, introducing Hotch to her mother as soon as they stepped into the embassy.

"Ah yes Agent Hotchner, I believe you worked security for me a number of years ago." She said, giving Hotch the once over before beginning to walk towards the dining room. "How's your wife?" She asked as she walked over to her seat sat down.

"Uh... we're divorced actually." Hotch replied awkwardly, not knowing what else to say other than the truth, as he sat down beside Emily.

"Oh." The ambassador replied as she unfolded her napkin. "Oh!" She said again as she pieced together the fact that her daughter hadn't brought Hotch to dinner because he was her boss. "Emily, you never told me you were going out with a divorcee, who's also your boss."

"Mother!" Emily exclaimed, shocked at how her mother had said that with such coldness to her voice.

"I'm just saying darling, you could easily settle down with a nice lawyer or business man, who doesn't carry as much... baggage." Her mother replied, completely ignoring the fact that Hotch was in the room.

"I know I could." Emily replied calmly. "But I love this man, baggage and all, and I wouldn't swap him in for all the rich business men in the world." She added, squeezing Hotch's hand under the table.

"Well if you're sure." Elizabeth said calmly as she picked up her fork and knife to eat.

"I am." Emily replied simply, mimicking her mother's moves and picking up her for and knife at the same time as Hotch picked up his.

The meal passed in silence for a while, no one really knowing what was a safe topic of discussion to begin when Emily and her mother agreed on so little. Finally it was the ambassador who broke the silence.

"So when are you getting married?" She asked casually, not even looking up from the piece of meat she was cutting.

"Mother!" Emily exclaimed again as Hotch choked on the drink he'd been taking, almost spraying it across the white linen table cloth that been laid out.

"What? Am I asking the wrong question? Have you not talked about this? How long have you been going out anyway?" Elizabeth asked all at once.

"We have talked about it, and we've been going out for over a year, and we've lived together for over a month, but it's not something we're going to discuss." Emily told he mother with a dramatic sigh.

"Why? Do you not plan on making an honest woman of my daughter Agent Hotchner?" She asked again, this time directing her question at Hotch.

"Oh my god!" Emily groaned into her hands, as her mother spoke, causing Hotch to smile.

"I do plan on making an honest woman of her, we're just not ready for that yet... but we will be one day." Hotch told her honestly... well leaving out the reason they weren't ready, deciding not to scare his future mother in law by telling her that there was a homicidal maniac after him and his family.

"Good... I'm glad to hear." The ambassador replied with a smile.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"I'm so, so sorry." Emily sighed, two hours later when they were finally home again, as she lay on the edge of the bed.

"Don't be... it wasn't that bad." Hotch replied with a smile as he began to undress.

"Honey, once she finished quizzing you on our 'wedding', she started asking how many kids we were going to have... then she started on a politics rant! So don't lie to me, I know how bad it was." Emily told him, as she kicked of her killer heels.

"Ok, it was pretty bad... but at least I've met her properly now." He told her as he pulled an old SWAT t-shirt over his head.

"I know, but I just want to forget about that dinner... for good." Emily groaned, wishing her mother could be more normal.

"Well I've got one way that would help you forget." Hotch told her as he moved closer. "Though it would involve you taking of that dress."

"Oh, but this dress is just so pretty on me." Emily complained teasingly.

She was going to say something else, but all thoughts of speaking left her mind when Hotch leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.  
_

There we go! Ok I hope you like this chapter because the next one's "100" and the one after that is "Slave of Duty" so not much fun for a while! Tell me what you thought.


	29. Bitter Sweet

*Sigh* ok so I don't really know where I'm going to go with this chapter yet, but it is going to be bitter sweet, because they're reunited with Jack... but as you all know it isn't the happiest of circumstances.

By the way the quote I'm using for this chapter is the quote from the end of the episode, because it's a really good quote.

It's November 2009, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 44.  
_

So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty." – Haniel Long.  
_

Emily felt tears sting her eyes as she watched Hotch scoop Haley up into his arms. She so badly wanted to do the same to him and tell him that everything was going to be ok, but she knew that he needed time to take in what had happened, so instead she went in search of the second most important person in her life.

She slowly made her way back down the stairs, stopping briefly to talk to Dave, before making her way outside, and over to where JJ was entertaining Jack.

"Where's mommy, Aunty Jen?" The small boy asked JJ as Emily approached them, noticing tear in Jack's eyes. "Where's mommy and daddy?" He repeated as one tear escaped and rolled down his cheek.

"Daddy, will be here soon sweetheart." JJ managed to choke out, as she fought with all her might to hold back her own tears.

It was then that Emily reached the two and made her presence known by clearing her throat loudly, trying to get rid of the lump that had formed there upon overhearing Jack's cries for his mother.

"Emmy!" The young boy squealed as he ran away from JJ and let Emily scoop him up in her arms and hold him tight against her chest.

"Hey buddy, how's my little man?" Emily asked as tears finally ran down her cheeks as the small boy snuggled into her chest, burrowing his head against her shoulder where it belonged.

"I'm fine Emmy, but where's daddy?" The young boy asked sadly.

"He's inside buddy." Emily replied simply, trying to avoid telling the child any of the details, knowing only too well that from his hiding place he was probably still able to hear his mother being shot, and his father kill the man that killed her, and that was enough for any four year old to hear.

"Can we go see him?" Jack asked, already trying to wriggle his way free from Emily's arms.

"Not right now, he has some... stuff to do right now, but he'll be out soon." Emily replied, clinging on to Jack even tighter than before, the fear that he'd run in and see his mothers dead body to horrible an image for Emily to even contemplate.

"Can we go see mommy instead, she was sad when I left." Jack told Emily, remembering how sad his mom had been when she'd hugged him and told him that she loved him.

When Jack said this the breath hitched in Emily's throat and she fell to the ground gently, feeling unable to stand any longer, as her tears began falling faster, the thought that Jack had seen his mother so sad seconds before she died, being too much for her to bare.

"N-no buddy... we uh, we can't see mommy." Emily managed to choke out between sobs, deciding to leave it up to Hotch to tell Jack why he'd never see Haley again.

"But why?" Jack asked, tears starting to stream down his face again. "I want to see her." He wailed into Emily's shoulder.

"I know buddy, I know." She told him, rubbing his back soothingly.

Around them paramedics and police officers stopped and stared at the pair as they sat in the grass crying, each of them knowing that the sight of this woman comforting a young child who'd just lost his mother, would be a sight they'd never be able to forget.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Hotch walked back from his meeting with Strauss over to the conference room, where he knew Emily had taken Jack, so he could be around the rest of the team. Hotch hadn't really talked to his son since he'd been reunited with him again, and all he wanted to do now was hold him close to his chest and never let go.

The second Jack saw his father enter the room he ran to him, letting Hotch scoop him into his arms and hold him closely, like Emily had done earlier.

The team also got up and came to stand around the pair. This show of support caused Hotch to give them a small smile, because he knew no matter what happened they'd all be there for him and his son.

"Uh, can I talk to Jack for a second?" He asked them after a moment, wanting to get a moment alone with his son, but not wanting to hurt the team's feelings by kicking them out of the room.

"Of course you can Aaron, all you have to do is ask." Rossi told him, before they all filled out of the room slowly, each giving him a pat on the back or a hug, Emily giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before she to left, closing the door behind her.

"Where's mommy gone daddy?" Jack asked the second they were alone, not even giving Hotch a chance to think of what he was going to say.

Hotch sighed... he knew his son would pick up on the sorrow around him and he knew he had to tell his son the truth, he just so desperately wished that he didn't have to.

"Well buddy," Hotch started as he took Jack over to one of the seats in the room and sat him down on his knee. "A bad guy got your mommy and... uh, and she's living with the angels now." He told his son as he felt tears sting at his eyes.

"Will she come back?" Jack asked sadly as his bottom lip began to quiver.

"N-no buddy, she's not able to come back." Hotch told his son, his voice cracking as he spoke. "But you need to remember that she loved you very much, and she didn't want to go." He added.

"Then why did she?" Jack cried, as tears began to roll down his cheeks again.

"A..." Hotch started, intending to tell Jack about Foyet, but he couldn't... he couldn't bring himself to fill his son's innocent young mind with such evil, so he lied. "I don't know buddy, I really don't." He told him, vowing to tell Jack the truth when he was old enough to understand properly.

"I miss her!" Jack wailed; as the realisation hit him that he'd never see his mommy again.

"I know Jack, so do I." Hotch admitted sadly, as he pulled his son closer and gave him a tight hug, hoping that even for a moment, the hug would wash away his son's grief, but knowing that if life were that simple he wouldn't even be needing to have this conversation right now.

From down in to bullpen the team watched as Hotch and Jack talked, and each of them felt their eyes fill up when Jack began to cry. They each knew without speaking that the image of Hotch telling his son that his mommy was dead was an image they were never going to forget.

~.~.~.~.~.~

That night, after Jack had finally stopped crying and fallen asleep beside Hotch in the bed, Hotch lay staring blankly at the ceiling of his room, not quite knowing what to think or feel.

He knew that he was sad, inconsolable even, but it was bitter sweet, because he'd gotten his son back and defeated Foyet, he just despised the fact that Haley had needed to die for him to do so.

He sighed as he heard footsteps enter the room slowly and stop at the foot of the bed.

"Do you want me to sleep in Jack's room tonight?" Emily asked quietly when she seen Jack curled up against Hotch's side, not wanting to wake the sleeping child.

"No, I think I need you near me tonight." Hotch confessed quietly as he pulled down the bed sheets and waited as Emily climbed in on the other side of Jack.

Emily sighed as she climbed into the bed, knowing that no matter how much she wanted to help, this was something Hotch needed to deal with on his own, and if all she could do to help was lie beside him at night, then she would gladly do so.

"How you holding up?" She asked Hotch, as she reached one hand over Jacks head and ran her it through Hotch's hair soothingly.

"I've had better days." He told her sadly, pausing for a moment before continuing. "I wish it had ended differently." He added, his voice laced with regret.

"We all do Aaron." Emily told him. "But you have to focus on the positive at the moment, you got killed the man that haunted you, and you got Jack back." She reminded him reassuringly. "What more is there?"

"I know." Hotch sighed. "It's just easier said than done... I feel so guilty, it's my fault Jack will grow up without his mother and it's my fault he almost didn't grow up at all."

"Hotch none of this was your fault." Emily told him sternly. "You didn't ask Foyet to hold a grudge against you, you didn't ask him to kill Haley, you were doing your job, and sometimes this job sucks, but sometimes it doesn't... we just have to take the good with the bad."

"I just wish there was a book, or a guide, telling me what to do now." Hotch told her, feeling completely useless.

"Well there's not, but that's why I'm here... to help you through this, and Jack as well." Emily told him comfortingly.

"Thank you... you really have no idea how much your support and love means to me, especially now." Hotch told her.

"Well I'm just glad you're letting me help you at all." Emily told him truthfully.

The room then fell into silence as both Hotch and Emily turned to face each other, Jack being the only barrier between them, and they each placed one hand on the small boy, lacing their fingers through one another's, and Hotch reached up to lace his other fingers through the hand that Emily was running through his hair.

Both now comfortable, and content in the knowing that at least for tonight they could sleep safely, but also being well aware of the fact that the next couple of days and weeks wouldn't be easy, they fell asleep.  
_

There! Gosh that was a sad chapter! I meant what I said at the end by the way, the next couple of weeks (or chapters anyway) won't be easy, for Emily and Hotch, or for me to write! Tell me that you thought. =)


	30. Stand by you From A Far

Ok so this chapter is during the events of "Slave of Duty" and my take on why Emily went with the team on the case.

It's November 2009, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 44.  
_

"I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you 'cuz you're there for me too..." – The Rembrandts, "I'll be there for you."  
_

Emily stood in the narrow hall of the apartment, her hand resting on her and Hotch's bedroom door, wanting to push it open and go inside to where Hotch was helping Jack with his tie, but not quite able to bring herself to do it.

It's not that she didn't want to disrupt the moment the pair were having, because even though she'd been afraid at first that Jack wouldn't feel comfortable with her being around, he'd taken to the change like a duck to water.

It was the fact that she didn't know what to say... she didn't know what words she could use to comfort the two most important people in her life, and that was why she couldn't quite face them... she couldn't express how she felt yet and she was, to be honest, afraid that she'd say something wrong, so she needed to leave them to mourn their loss in their own way.

All she did know is that she'd be there for them, every step of the way.

~.~.~.~.~.~

She watched as he stood alone on the balcony after the funeral... and even though she wanted to talk to him, she couldn't find her feet, she couldn't move from her seat.

She knew that he needed to think, she knew he had big decisions to make regarding his future, and she knew she couldn't and shouldn't help him make them, so she sat and watched him, knowing that if he needed or wanted her, that he'd tell her.

When she found out they had to leave on a case she was beyond pissed that she had to leave him here on his own, but she knew Strauss was still here so she couldn't even say goodbye.

She made her way slowly to the door, but at the exit she stopped suddenly causing the rest of the team to stare.

"Are you coming Emily?" JJ asked as she stood beside the SUV, holding one of the doors open.

"I just need to say goodbye... make sure he's ok." Emily informed them; not looking any of them in the eye as she spoke, being caught in a trance like state instead.

"We get it, just hurry." Morgan told her soothingly, knowing that she needed to say goodbye before she left.

Emily nodded her head in thanks and turned quickly on her heel, running back into the ball room and out onto the balcony, not caring if she was spotted by Strauss, to where Hotch now stood on his own, staring out at the night sky.

"Shouldn't you be away by now?" Hotch asked, not even needing to turn around to know who it was behind him.

"I don't want to leave you." Emily confessed quietly, knowing that he was able to look after himself, but not wanting to let him.

"Emily the team needs you more than I do." He told her firmly, turning to face her when he spoke.

"No they don't... they'll manage." Emily tried to reason, though knowing that he was right.

"Honey, you know they won't... plus I need to think a few things over in my head, and if you're there I won't be able to... no offence." He told her, trying to convince her to go, even though a part of him wanted her to stay with him.

"Are you sure?" She asked, wanting to give him one more chance to ask her to say.

"Positive." He replied sadly. "Now go before Strauss see's you." He added.

"Ok... I love you." She told him sadly as she turned to leave, knowing that even a kiss on the cheek or a hug would raise eyebrows, and they still could be seen from inside.

"I love you too." Hotch replied as he watched her leave.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Hey Em." Morgan called, as he jogged to catch up with her on their way across the air strip to the jet, on the way back from the case.

"Yea?" Emily replied, not looking up from the ground as she continued to walk.

"You ok? You went a bit crazy with that Unsub back there." Morgan said, looking at her and trying to catch her eye.

"I just wish I was at home." Emily replied, looking him briefly in the eye, just long enough for Morgan to see the tears rise in her eyes. "I need to know they're both ok." She added, talking about Hotch and Jack.

"Emily, Hotch and Jack are lucky to have you in their lives, now especially." Morgan told her, reaching an arm out and pulling her close to his side. "And they both know you'll always be there for them." He added.

"Well I've done a great job of that so far... the day that Aaron buries his ex wife and the day Jack buries his mother, I'm called away on a case." Emily replied with a regretful sigh.

"Emily, believe me when I say you're there for them more than you think, even if it's from afar, you are always there for them, and they know that." Morgan told her firmly, hoping to squash any doubts his best friend had.

"Thanks... it actually means a lot to hear someone say that to me." Emily sniffled, sounding slightly less depressed now.

"Any time princess." Morgan replied, kissing the top of her head as he spoke.

"You know I hate it when you call me that." Emily pretended to huff.

"Yea well tough, Garcia's my baby girl, you're my princess and JJ's the mamma, so you girls are just going to have to deal with it." Morgan told her with a smile, happy with himself that he'd gotten her smiling again.

Emily shook her head playfully but said nothing. Secretly she was happy that Morgan was teasing her, it meant that for a brief second things were normal again, and that she didn't have to get on the jet and go home to a devastated child and his broken father.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Emily sighed as she opened the apartment door and made her way into the apartment, throwing her go bag in the corner and trudging over to the kitchen where she planned on grabbing herself a bite to eat, as she knew Hotch and Jack would be either at the grave or sleeping, and she didn't want to disturb them.

She was only slightly shocked to find Jessica in the room as well, fixing up what looked like a bowl of spaghetti hoops, which was Jacks favourite.

"Hey." Jessica greeted softly, when she turned to see Emily behind her.

"Hello Jessica." Emily replied awkwardly, not knowing if Jessica hated her or not for breaking up Hotch and Haley in the first place.

"Don't worry... I don't hate you." Jessica told her, as if she'd read her mind. "And neither did Haley... she actually thought you were good for him, she just didn't deal well with it at first."

"Thank you for telling me that." Emily replied. "And I'm sorry for your loss." She added.

Jessica nodded her head but didn't reply, knowing that there was nothing else left to say.

"Is Jack in bed?" Emily asked, knowing that he'd been spending a lot of his time sleeping since he'd gotten back, which wasn't a good sign for a child who was once so active.

"He's in his room watching a video of him and Haley, but he wants to see you." Jessica told her with a smile.

Emily nodded and made her way down the hall to Jacks room, stopping momentarily at the door before pushing it open to reveal the young boy lying on his bed, facing away from the door, watching a video of him and Haley blow out candles on his birthday cake.

"Hey buddy." Emily called softly, not wanting to startle the young boy.

"Emmy your home." Jack replied, jumping of his bed and coming to hug her even though his voice lacked the enthusiasm it normally had when he seen her or his dad.

"Yea sweety I am, and I missed you loads when I was away." Emily told him as she stooped down and pulled the young boy into a tight hug.

"Emmy will you put me to bed now?" Jack asked her after a moment.

"But it's only four o clock sweety, and Aunt Jess is making you spaghetti hoops." Emily told him.

"I know... but when I sleep mommy visits me, so I want to go to bed now." Jack informed her, looking like he was about to burst into tears.

"Ok buddy, I'll put you to bed." Emily replied, feeling a lump form in her throat at Jacks confession.

~.~.~.~.~

Hotch sighed as he finally got up from the bench in front of Haley's grave, and began to walk back towards his car slowly.

He'd been there for at least an hour before Dave came, and he'd thought everything over in his head... he'd even had a 'discussion' with Haley about what to do next, and everything now seemed a lot clearer in his mind.

He'd known even before he'd come to the grave that he'd never be able to leave the BAU, or the FBI for that matter.

He knew it was in his blood, and that he wouldn't be truly happy unless he was able to hunt down the bad guys and make the world a better place for his son.

So really with that in mind before he'd even gotten here, there was only one other thing he needed to talk to Haley about... Emily.

He'd known that Haley hadn't approved of their relationship at first... heck he'd even go as far as to say that she'd resented their relationship at first... but once she'd gotten over the initial shock of them being together she'd actually started to approve of the idea of them being a couple, even going as far as to let Emily's name go on Jack's list of emergency contacts at his pre school.

All that said Hotch still wanted to think things over... to make sure Haley really would have been ok with Emily playing such a huge role in Jacks life.

She hadn't known just how serious Hotch was about his relationship with Emily, and she'd already been gone when Emily had moved in, so Hotch needed to 'talk' to her, just to make sure she approved of Emily becoming the mother figure in Jack's life from now on.

So now, as Hotch unlocked and opened his car door, he knew in his mind what the answer was... he knew that she would approve; he knew that Haley would have wanted this, because as she'd said, Jack needed to believe in love, and he intended on keeping that promise to her... it was one of the hundreds of promises he'd made to her, and this one he intended on keeping.

~.~.~.~.~

"Hey." Emily called softly when Hotch walked in the door of the apartment, later that evening.

"Hey." He replied quietly, as he kicked his shoes to one corner, not looking her in the eye.

"I missed you when I got home." Emily told him. She waited for him to reply but when he didn't she continued. "Did she help you figure things out?" She asked, knowing where Hotch had been.

"Yea..." He replied. "Yea she did." He repeated, before moving across the room and pulling Emily into a warm hug, not wanting, or needing to talk any more.  
_

There, that was pretty long, but a lot happened in the episode, so the chapter needed to be long. Tell me what you thought.


	31. Super Mom

Right so this chapter is after "Retaliation" but it's not really based completely on that because I got a diffrent idea for this chapter, and decided to run with it instead, hope you like it.

It's December 2009, Emily's 39 and Hotch is 44.  
_

"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." – Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"  
_

It had been a long month in the Hotchner household, but things were finally starting to get back to normal... if not slowly.

Emily awoke sorely, to find Hotch's face staring down at her from her right, a mixture of worry and love on his face.

"You know I'm not going to disappear if you look away." Emily told him lovingly, as she reached her good hand up and stroked his cheek.

"Yea, well I'm not taking that chance." Hotch replied, as he grabbed her hand and kissed the palm. "I mean I take a month off and then on my first case back you go and land yourself in hospital." He scolded her.

"I wasn't badly hurt... I was out so fast you didn't even get to visit me in hospital." She joked.

"Yes, well I don't care, I'm insisting on making you breakfast in bed." He told her.

"No!" Emily replied quickly. "You know I like to make Jack French Toast at the weekends." She told him.

"Emily you were in a car crash two days ago... I think one weekend without your amazing breakfast won't kill him." Hotch told her.

"Yes, but I want to." Emily replied. "It's the only thing that gets him out of his room at all on the weekends." She added, referring to the fact that Jack still spent most of his time in his room... though he didn't sleep as much as he used to, his mothers face now being replaced by Foyet's in the nightmares he had.

"Fine..." Hotch sighed, knowing that she was right. "But you're resting for the rest of the day."

"Yes doctor." Emily replied cheekily, before leaning up and capturing his lips softly and lovingly.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Emily winced as she reached up to the top shelf to grab a plate... obviously the bruising on her ribs hadn't gotten any better overnight.

"Hey, stop right there!" Hotch commanded, as he walked into the kitchen, now wearing a pair of light jeans and an old t-shirt. "I said you could make French toast, but I said nothing about letting you stretch."

"Oh for god sakes Aaron I'm fine!" Emily huffed, stepping aside and letting him take down the plate anyway. "Where is Jack anyway?" She questioned.

"He's in his room getting dressed." Hotch told her. "If you go and get him I can serve this... and stop you injuring yourself further." He added.

Emily stuck out her tongue but left the kitchen anyway, heading down the hall and stopping at Jacks room to knock on the door, knowing that the little boy didn't like people coming into his room without knocking first, because in his nightmares it was Foyet who came in.

"Jack honey it's me... do you want a hand getting dressed for breakfast?" Emily called through the door.

"No Emmy, I'm ok." Jack replied, before the door swung open and the young boy emerged.

What he was wearing caused Emily to gasp.

"Honey, you can't wear that." Emily told him, looking down at the t-shirt the young boy was wearing with 'super hero mom' written on the front of it, with a superman sign in the middle.

"Why not Emmy?" Jack asked in confusion. "Mommy got if for me when we were on our adventure." He added sadly.

Emily was about to reply, telling him that his dad might not want to see the t-shirt yet, when she heard footsteps behind her and knew it was too late.

"Hey, the French toast is getting c..." Hotch started, but he stopped when he spotted his sons t-shirt.

"Jack... why don't you go and put on your spider man t-shirt." Emily whispered to Jack, as she sensed Hotch tense up behind her, even without looking.

"But..." Jack started sadly.

"Please baby, then you can get French toast." Emily bargained, hoping it would work.

"Kay." Jack replied, before running back into his room and shutting the door tightly behind him.

Emily turned to face Hotch, but found that he was no longer standing behind her, so she walked slowly back to the kitchen, checking all other rooms on the way, finding him standing at the sink washing dishes.

"Uh... breakfast is uh, getting cold." Hotch said absently once he sensed Emily behind him, never taking his eyes off the dishes as he spoke.

Emily ignored this however, instead pulling the dishes out of his hand and leading him gently to the seats around the table, where she eased him down and sat beside him.

"It's ok you know." Emily whispered.

"What? Breakfast getting cold?" Hotch tried to joke, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes as he spoke.

"It's ok to miss her." Emily clarified as she reached out her hand and grabbed Hotch's larger one.

"I'm fine." Hotch replied, pulling his hand away quickly and standing up again.

Emily sighed as she watched him walk away quickly to his room... she wanted to follow him, but it was at that moment that Jack reappeared.

"I'm ready for breakfast now!" Jack exclaimed, pointing to his spider man t-shirt to clarify that he was in fact ready.

"Well then, come and sit beside me and we can tuck in." Emily replied with a smile, in what she hoped was a happy voice, as her thoughts remained on Hotch.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Emily sighed as she moved through the apartment, picking up laundry. It had now been almost an hour since Hotch had stormed off to his room, and he hadn't remerged since.

Once she reached their bedroom door she dropped the laundry basket she'd been holding and stepped inside, looking around in the semi darkness and spotting Hotch sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You promised her you'd spend the rest of your life making it up to her and Jack." Emily said after a moment of silence.

"Bit late now." Hotch snapped back bitterly.

"Really? Have you died?" Emily asked, keeping her voice level even though all she wanted to do was lose her temper and shout at him for shutting her out again.

"You know what I mean Emily." He shot back coldly, feeling anger ride in him.

"No Aaron... Actually I don't." Emily replied.

Hotch turned to face Emily now, rage evident on his face from the little light that filtered into the room through the blinds, and from the hall.

"She's dead Emily... I failed, and now instead of making it up to her like I promised, I have to spend the rest of my life thinking of how things could have been different... how I could have made the deal, and made this all go away... but I didn't." He finished, his voice laced with regret and anger.

"See that's where you're wrong." Emily replied, once she was sure he'd said his part. "You can make it up to her, you remember what she told you right?" Emily asked, already knowing the answer would be yes.

"Of course I do... how am I supposed to forget." Hotch replied, still bitter.

"She made you promise to tell Jack how you met, and how you made her laugh, how you weren't always serious and to make sure that that little boy always believed in love." Emily told him as she stepped closer. "So you can still make it up to her every day for the rest of your life, because that's all she wanted... for Jack to grow up safe, happy and loved." She finished.

Hotch looked at her briefly, before looking away again, fighting the urge to cry.

"I know you're not ready to be reminded of her yet." Emily added. "But Jack needs to remember, and I didn't know her well enough to tell him... it needs to be you... and I'm not saying that you need to talk to him today, or tomorrow, or even this year... but you will at some stage, so you need to be ready."

"I can do that." Hotch whispered in reply, as he wrapped his arms around Emily's shoulders and held her close. "I promise I can do that." He whispered softly into her hair.

Emily simply nodded into his t-shirt, having said all she needed to say, now just hoping it got through to him.

~.~.~.~.~

Three days later Emily sighed as she yet again trolled the apartment for dirty laundry... a job she always seemed to get landed with.

She stopped at Jacks door and was about to knock when she heard voices come from inside the room. She rested the basket against her hip and leaned in closer so she could hear the conversation within the room.

"Daddy do I have to get rid of my super mom t-shirt?" Emily heard Jack ask.

Emily's breath hitched as she awaited the reply from Hotch.

"No buddy... you can keep it... " Hotch replied.

"But it makes you sad." Jack replied.

"No buddy... it just reminds me of your mom... and at the moment that makes me kind of sad, but you can keep it." Hotch told him.

Emily smiled as she lifted her face away from the door... Hotch was still a long way of being cured of his guilt, but he was certainly heading in the right direction, and that, for now was enough.  
_

Ok so that was another sad chapter, but I've got a few good ones to come! Tell me what you thought. =)


	32. Christmas Cheer 1

Right it's now Christmas for the team. This will probably be three chapters long, as a lot is going to happen this Christmas!

Oh and this chapter is dedicated to Cass and Em, because they're reading all my stories and I love them. =)

It's December 2009, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 44.  
_

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." – Burton Hillis.  
_

Hotch hummed along to the radio playing 'Fairytale of New York', as did Emily, as they both moved around the kitchen preparing the small dinner they were planning on eating the next day for Christmas.

It was only eleven in the morning, but Jessica had wanted to see Jack before she went to her parents place for the holidays, so he'd spent the night at hers, giving Hotch and Emily the perfect opportunity to bond the night before, and now to make a small dinner for the next day.

It really was only small, as there was only three of them, and none of them were particularly heavy eaters, especially Jack, who was going through the faze where he refused to eat anything green.

The one exception to Jacks no green food rule was... much to Emily's disgust and amazement... boucle sprouts which Hotch was in the middle of washing right now as Emily refused to even touch them, when the phone began to wring loudly from the table in the living area.

Hotch wiped his hands on the cloth that was lying on the counter, before making his way over to the phone.

"I'll get it." Hotch called sarcastically, once he saw that Emily, who was trying her best to make a homemade stuffing by following an online recipe, wasn't even making an effort to move towards the phone.

"Thank you dear." Emily replied cheekily. "Oh and remember, if it's my mother, you have to tell her we already have plans so we can't go to her function party thingy." She added.

"So lie basically." Hotch replied.

"Yea... more or less... unless you want to go to one of mothers functions." Emily retorted.

Hotch shook his head quickly, indicating that meeting Emily's mother again was the last thing he wanted to do, as he finally reached the phone.

"Hello?" He said once he picked up the receiver.

Hotch stood and listened to the hone, nodding his head every now and then as if the person on the other end could see him, but not actually getting a word in edge ways. This led Emily to believe that it was Dave that was calling, as he had a habit of talking nonstop until he'd said everything that needed to be said.

"Ok... I'll ask Emily, though I doubt she'll say no so we'll see you around four." Hotch said finally, before replacing the phone on the stand and walking over towards Emily, who was wiping her hands on the same cloth Hotch had used, to try and remove her failed stuffing attempt.

"That was..." Hotch started, but Emily got in before him.

"Dave." She finished, smiling cheekily at him as she said it.

"You do realise how creepy that is?" Hotch questioned, as he slowly snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him, as she put her arms up to rest on his shoulders.

"Yes... that's why I find it so amusing." She replied with a wink. "Now what did Dave want?" She asked.

"Well his new book is selling well, and that has meant a new... and bigger... house at Little Creek, and since none of the team have plans of their own, he invited us all around to spend Christmas with him." Hotch told her happily.

"But wouldn't Reid be going to see his mum? Or to visit Austin's parents?" Emily asked. "And wouldn't Morgan be going to see his mum? Not to mention that Jayje and Will are probably going to JJ's family or Will's with Henry." She added.

"Emily, you know that the team are never able to make plans like that in advanced... plus there's currently a good eight or nine inches of snow on the ground, so there's no air traffic going in or out of DC." He told her in reply to all her questions. "Why do you really not want to go?" He asked then, reading her like a book.

"Well..." Emily started, as she pulled back slightly from their embrace and placed her hands on his forearms. "This is Jacks first Christmas since... you know..." She trailed off awkwardly.

"Since a psychopath brutally murdered his mother while he was hiding in the next room." Hotch finished, as he watched Emily nod her head slowly and sadly. "I know that... believe me, it's all I can think about... will this Christmas be good enough for him? What if he misses her to much? Will he be happy?" Hotch told her sadly.

"Aaron... I'm sure this Christmas will be better than good, and of course he'll miss her, but that's natural." Emily reassured him. "What I'm talking about is... whether it's a good idea to have him around so many people when he's missing her, and when he's sad." She told him, as she rubbed his arms up and down slowly and soothingly.

"I think it'll be good for him." Hotch confessed after a moment of thought. "The more people he's around the less he'll think about it... plus he's always asking to see his aunts and uncles, not to mention his favourite cousin Henry." He told her. "And Christmas is a time for family after all."

"I guess you're right there." Emily admitted.

"Face it darling, I'm always right, you can just never admit it." Hotch teased.

Emily was about to remind him of one of the several time's he'd been wrong... today alone... when Hotch, sensing this, bent down and captured her lip in a slow and brief kiss, that only lasted for a moment, but like every time Hotch touched her, managed to send shockwaves down Emily's spine... even after more than a year together.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Holy hell!" Emily exclaimed when she stepped out of the car into the soft snow and looked up at Rossi's new house... well it was more of a mansion really.

"Well he said he could afford a bigger place." Hotch told her as he trudged around the car in the thick snow that was still falling to help Jack get out of the car.

"Yea, but when he said bigger I thought he meant an extra room or something... this place is the size of the white house!" Emily replied, still in shock as she looked up at the obviously spacious two story wooden cabin, which stood overlooking the now frozen lake, with giant windows taking up most of the front of the house so you could take in the view.

"Let's not be dramatic." Hotch laughed, as he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the look on Emily's face.

"Yea Em, wouldn't your houses have been bigger than this when you were growing up." Rossi said with a smirk, as he stood in the doorway watching as Emily and Hotch both held one of Jacks hands, so the young boy wouldn't slip, and walked up to meet him at the door.

"The places I lived in were easily ten times this size." Emily replied. "But that's not the point, they had function rooms and ball rooms and a huge kitchen... this pace is an actual house." She informed him.

Hotch and Rossi rolled their eyes at her enthusiasm as they walked through the hallway and into the living room at the back of the house, where the rest of the team were already sitting with mulled wine and boxes of biscuits.

"Damn! Look at that view!" Emily exclaimed again as she gaped at the view of the pine forest, which now had ten inches of snow covering the ground and the trees, which was leaving a brilliantly white sparkle on the land.

"My words exactly." JJ informed her, from her seat on the couch, with Will's arm around her waist and Henry resting in her lap.

"Mine too." Garcia added laughing, as she sat, curled into Kevin's side on another couch.

"No they weren't." Kevin reminded her. "Yours were more 'Eek! Oh my god! Look! Oh my god! I must be dreaming!'" He told her, which caused Garcia to slap him playfully on the chest.

"Sorry Baby Girl, but Kevin is right... only you were higher pitched than that when you said it." Morgan joked, as he lay stretched out on the floor in front of Garcia and Kevin's couch.

"Uncle Dave." Jack suddenly called, which stopped the adults banter immediately.

"Yes Jack." Rossi replied as he walked over to the small boy.

"Where's your tree and decorations?" Jack asked, confused as to why there'd be none up this close to Santa coming.

"Well, seeing as I only just moved in here, I didn't have many decorations so I told your dad, and Emily, and your aunts and uncles to bring their decorations over, and we can decorate a room each, and then how about we all make the tree together." Rossi told him with a smile.

"Awesome!" Jack exclaimed excitedly before turning to Hotch and Emily. "You guys remembered decorations right?" He asked, suddenly worried that they'd forgotten.

"Aw darn it." Emily replied in mock frustration.

"I knew we forgot something." Hotch added, also looking deject.

"What!" Jack shouted, looking panicked as his little eyes grew in shock at the fact that they'd forgotten.

"Don't worry." Hotch said suddenly, looking down at a worried looking Jack, as a smile graced his face. "Like we'd forget the decorations."

"Phew!" Jack sighed dramatically as he wiped his brow. "'Coz you know Santa might not come if the house isn't decorated properly." He informed the entire room seriously when he seen that they were all smiling at him.

"Well then in that case you better come and help me and daddy get the decorations out of the car." Emily told him, as she put her serious face in place to mimic Jack's and reached out to grab his hand.

~.~.~.~.~.~

An hour later and the team had congregated back in the sitting room, which was the only room of the house that was still undecorated.

The rest of the house was now bursting with decorations and colour, and no two rooms looked remotely similar due to everyone's different taste in decorations.

The hallway was covered in small statues of Santa and snowmen, and other modern, slightly expensive looking decorations, curtsy of Emily, Hotch and Jack.

The kitchen was decorated in a traditional but also modern looking style thanks to JJ, Will and Henry, with tinsel draping over the work tops, and all of Rossi's jars having been replaced with Santa and snowman shaped jars instead.

The more formal of the two living rooms... because yes, there were two in this never ending house... looked like an explosion of colour had occurred in the centre of it, thanks to Garcia and Kevin of course. The walls were covered in bright Christmas lights, designs and pictures, and everything else in the room and some sort of bright decoration sitting on it.

Morgan and Rossi had been in charge of the dining room, and it now had a reindeer statue, about the same size as Jack, sitting in one end of the room, with a hug gold and red wreath sitting on the centre of the dining room table.

Reid and Austin had been left in charge of the conservatory, and it now had a mixture of Austin's modern statuettes and some of Reid's classic Christmas decorations, like old snow globes.

"Are we going to decorate the tree now?" Jack asked, as he looked up at the giant artificial tree... because Rossi refused to get pine needles all over his carpet.

"Yea buddy, me, you and daddy can do one part of the tree with our decorations and the rest of the team will do the other parts of the tree." Emily told him, as she held their box of tree decorations in her hand.

"Kay!" Jack replied happily, as he dug his hand into the box and retrieved a small crystal snowman, complete with a painted scarf and hat, which he ran to the tree with and hung carefully from one of the branches.

The rest of the team followed his lead, each using their own decorations, and occasionally stealing someone else's if their part of the tree looked bare, and within an hour the tree was shimmering as each of the decorations caught the light that came through the window.

"That's a job well done." Morgan commented, as he stepped back to view their handy work from a distance.

"No it's not." JJ replied as she also took a step back to view the tree.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Morgan inquired, looking at the tree in confusion.

"Oh yea, JJ's right, we're missing the most important part." Garcia agreed, also looking up at the tree.

"Someone care to fill me in?" Morgan stated, still confused as to what they were missing.

"The angel on top." JJ told him. "But don't fear, because the great and almighty JJ has brought one." She added happily before pulling a tall golden-blond haired angel out of the bottom of her box, with golden glittery wings and a white dress.

"Wow Jayje, that's beautiful!" Garcia gushed when she saw the ornament in JJ's hand.

"It was my grandmothers." JJ replied as she walked closer to the tree. "Come here Jack, get up on your Uncle Derek's shoulders and put this on top of the tree." She told the young boy, who was staring in awe at the angel.

"Really!" Jack replied happily, as he ran over and let Morgan scoop him into his arms.

"Really really." JJ replied with a smile, as she handed the angel off to Jack and watched with the rest of the team, as he reached up and placed it carefully on the top of the tree.

Once Jack was down on the ground again the team smiled contently as they sat back down around the tree and watched the snow fall outside the window.  
_

There, the second part of this will be up soon, and there will definitely be three chapters now by the way. Tell me what you thought! =)


	33. Christmas Cheer 2

The next Christmas chapter for you now and this is dedicated to ilovetvalot who read my story in one sitting!... enjoy!  
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"For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home." – W.J. Ronald Tucker  
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The team sat in the living room talking quietly for a while before Emily clearing her throat caused them all to turn their heads to face her.

"Looks like the excitement of Santa coming has gotten too much for someone." She whispered, motioning to her and Hotch's lap, where Jack lay spread out between them sound asleep, his head resting on Emily's shoulder and his feet dangling of the edge of Hotch's lap.

"Yea looks lak Henry can't wait either." Will agreed, as he pointed to JJ's lap, where the young boy was sound asleep.

"I'll put him to bed now." JJ whispered as she stood up and walked towards the stairs.

"Do you want me to take Jack?" Hotch asked, as Emily went to move Jack more securely in her arms so she could follow JJ's lead.

"No... It's fine, you stay here, I'll be back in a minute." Emily whispered, as she stood and gave Hotch a quick kiss, before following JJ to the room Jack and Henry were sharing.

"She's good with him, isn't she." Rossi commented quietly as he watched Emily leave the room.

"She most defiantly is." Hotch agreed, not taking his eyes off her as she left.

"You going to do something about it?" Rossi asked.

"I live with her don't I." Hotch replied, easily keeping a neutral face, even though he wanted to smile at what Rossi was saying.

"That's not what I meant Aaron, and you know it." Rossi replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I know... but don't worry, I know what I'm doing when it comes to Emily." Hotch replied mysteriously, but saying no more on the matter.

The entire room rolled their eyes at Hotch's apparent lack of commitment but said no more, as Emily and JJ walked back down the stairs, both sitting down beside their other halves and curling into their side.

~.~.~.~.~

"I say we all hit the hay now." Rossi spoke up after another hour of talking and laughing, as he stifled a yawn.

"But we haven't opened our presents to each other yet!" Garcia exclaimed, referring to the secret Santa they'd agreed to do... but had cheated anyway by making sure that all couples got each other, and Henry and Jack got each other... leaving Morgan and Rossi both at odds as to what to buy each other as gifts.

"How about we open Santa's presents tomorrow morning, and then after dinner we open our secret Santa present's." Reid said to the room.

"Sounds good to me." Morgan agreed. "And I'm beat now as well." He added, as he to held back his own yawn.

"Mhm, I need bed." Austin agreed, before yawning and snuggling in closer to Reid's side.

"Yea I agree with Dave, and I think Em does as well." Hotch added quietly, as he motioned to his left, where Emily was lying with her knees under his legs, her arm around his waist and her head resting on the crook of his neck, breathing slowly and evenly, indicating that the sandman had already hit her.

The team nodded in agreement and each got up slowly, Hotch lifting Emily gently into his arms so as he wouldn't wake her, and he carried her carefully towards their room, which was across the hall from Jack and Henrys room.

"Wha- what time's it?" Emily murmured softly, once Hotch placed her on the bed gently, and had begun pulling of her boots and socks.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you... and it's a quarter past twelve." Hotch whispered, as he pulled down her jeans gently and replaced them with a pair of her favourite baby blue pyjama bottoms, which had cartoon penguins running down the legs.

"It's ok I was only half sleeping anyway." Emily replied, as she lifted herself of the bed a little so Hotch could replace her crimson woollen jumper with her pyjama top, which was also pale blue and decorated in penguins. "And happy Christmas by the way Aaron." She added softly when she realised the time.

"Happy Christmas Emily." Hotch replied, before placing a hand on either side of her head and leaning down and capturing her lips lovingly.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"DADDY, EMMY WAKE UPPPP!" Jack screamed, as he jumped up and down on the two adults at half five the next morning.

"What the fu- dge?" Emily murmured, not used to the wakeup call, as she didn't have a hyper four ear old living with her this time last year, due to the fact that Jack had spent last Christmas with his mum.

"Welcome to Christmas morning with a child darling... get used to it." Hotch laughed, as he was already awake and alert.

"I knew my life was too good to be true." Emily mumbled as she sat up in the bed slowly, rubbing her eyes quickly to un-blur her vision.

"Daddy, Emmy, stop talking! Santa's been here, it's Christmas day!" Jack explained impatiently, still jumping on the bed.

"Ok, ok, buddy we're coming." Hotch laughed as he got out of bed and groped around in the semi darkness for a pair or sweats and a t-shirt.

Emily also clambered out of bed slowly, and slipped a pair of slippers on her cold feet before throwing a t-shirt at Hotch, and scooping Jack into her arms to stop him from jumping.

The three made their way down to the sitting room where the tree was situated, making sure to wake everyone else on their way down... because as Emily had put it, if they needed to be awake at this ridiculous hour, then so did the rest of the family.

"Do you think he came?" Jack whispered to the group of adults... most of which were still sleeping, just in a standing position... behind him, as they all stood outside the living room door.

"I'm sure he did buddy." Hotch replied, thankful that him, Emily, JJ and Will had gotten up at three to put out Jack and Henrys presents.

That was all the encouragement Jack needed, before he pushed the door open slowly and peaked in at the two small piles of gifts that lay under the tree, a pile for Henry and a pile for him.

Jack immediately rushed over to his pile and began unwrapping items, which were wrapped in Super Man paper... Henrys being wrapped in duck paper, as they were his favourite thing, or word anyway, at the moment.

Most of the things Jack got were only small, like toy cars and colouring books, as the rule was Santa brought one big present and one medium one if you were extra good, along with some small things. Jacks big present was of course the mini BMX style bike that he'd been pointing at in every toy catalogue or toy store window he seen, and his medium present... because he sure as hell deserved it this year... was a remote control Batman car, with sounds and everything.

"This is so cool!" Jack exclaimed as he stares at his new toys in awe. "Santa is the best ever." He added.

"He sure is buddy." Look at all this cool stuff!" Hotch exclaimed as he sat down at his son's side.

"You know Jack, I used to do a bit of BMXing when I was a kid, if you want we can go out later and I'll show you some tricks." Morgan told the boy. "Don't worry nothing to dangerous." He added, when he noticed the looks Hotch and Emily were sending him.

"Cool, thanks Uncle Derek." Jack squealed, running and throwing himself around Morgan's legs in a tight hug.

"What did my favourite godson get?" Garcia asked JJ happily.

"I don't think he really cares what he got." JJ laughed, pointing to her son who was crawling around in a sea of duck wrapping paper giggling excitedly.

"Glad to know little Henry has his priorities straight." Rossi laughed as he looked at the untouched presents that included rattles, stuffed toys and a car that you could sit in and be pushed around.

"Henry can have my paper as well." Jack spoke up when he noticed the enjoyment Henry was getting from the ripped up duck paper.

"No buddy, its ok, I'm pretty sure it'll be hard enough to get this paper of Henry without the little guy screaming the house down, you can keep your paper." JJ told him with a comforting smile, as she and Will set about pulling scraps of paper away from their son without him noticing.

Jocks mouth formed an "o" and he simply shrugged his shoulder at his Aunts words, before turning and heading back to his toy car, which Hotch was trying to put batteries in... Unsuccessfully.

"Hotch they're the wrong size... you need the smaller ones." Reid told him, pointing out the obvious.

"Reid, I may not have three PhD's but I did realise that when these ones didn't fit." Hotch snapped, rolling his eyes in frustration.

"It's ok Reid, he's just not used to being awake this long without coffee." Emily told the young genius when she noticed the shocked look on his face, at the fact that he'd been snapped at by Hotch.

"Well lucky for you, we have that and more." Austin spoke up, as she walked from the kitchen into the living room, carrying a tray with ten cups of steaming coffee on it and a glass and beaker of milk for Jack and Henry, closely followed by Kevin, Morgan and Garcia, who were each carrying trays with plates of bacon, eggs, beans, sausage, and two slices of toast for everyone.

"How was there even this much food in my fridge?" Rossi enquired, as he was handed his plate and his cup of coffee.

"You do realise we brought a lot more than just the stuff for Christmas dinner over with us?" JJ replied, laughing at the confused look on Rossi's face.

"Yea, as women, we like to be prepared... and since we plan on staying far longer than you want us to, we thought we'd at least stock up your fridge." Emily added, as she took her plate, Hotch's plate, and Jacks plate from Kevin and set about cutting up Jacks food for him, as Hotch was still trying to work out the car batteries.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Rossi murmured bitterly, causing the team to laugh.

"Aw come on... a holiday with great family, great company and me... what more could a man want." Garcia asked happily as she finished handing out the plates and sat down beside Henry, trying to entice him away from the wrapping paper with a stuffed toy.

"Pease and quiet." Rossi replied sarcastically.

"Oh come on Rossi... with a house this size you could sit at one end and we could sit at the other and you'd never see us again." Morgan joked.

"I might just do that." Rossi replied, eying up the long corridor that lead away from the living room thoughtfully, and causing the team to laugh again.

The room then fell into silence for a moment, each person being happy to tuck into their food, as Henry threw his new duck teddy around the room and crawled after it, the new duck having immediately drawn his attention away from the cartoon ducks on the paper.

"Reid!" Hotch snapped again after a moment, causing the whole room to turn and stare at the duo, both of whom were still sitting on the floor beside Jacks new car, as Jack himself was happy to eat his breakfast and colour in a picture while he waited.

"Sorry Hotch, but I'm just pointing out that it would make more sen..." The young genius started hastily.

"Reid, this is a remote control car, not a NASA rocket, I'm pretty sure I can figure it out." Hotch replied, trying to keep his voice even.

"You two having fun?" Emily smirked, from her place on the couch.

"Oh yea, a blast." Hotch replied sarcastically, shooting Emily a glare, before returning his attention to the car... that was meant to be suitable for children to use!

"Spencer, how about you leave Hotch alone and come and have some breakfast." Austin soothed, knowing only too well that no matter how much someone loved Reid... and she did love him... his intelligence could become annoying at times.

"No it's ok... I'm not really hungry." Reid replied, only looking up briefly.

"Spencer Matthew Reid come over here right now and eat this... you're skin and bone as it is." Austin commanded in a voice that, if he'd been paying attention to the conversation, would have impressed Hotch.

"You got owned there man." Morgan laughed, stopping quickly when he noted the glare he was getting from each of the women.

"Ha! Got it!" Hotch exclaimed after a moment, smiling smugly, first at the car in his hand, and then at Reid.

The team couldn't help but laugh at the sour look on Reid's face, because he hadn't been able to help out, and they also broke into a round of sarcastic applause at Hotch's achievement.

"Oh ha, ha." Hotch replied before turning to his son. "Hey buddy I got your car working... do you want to give it a whirl?" Hotch asked Jack happily.

"Maybe latter daddy... I'm colouring this right now." The boy replied without even looking up from the picture of an octopus that he was half ways finished with.

The team exploded with laughter, as Hotch gave his son an "are you fricking serious!" look, before standing up and walking over to sit beside Emily in a huff.

"My son's been spending too much time with you." Hotch mumbled to Emily once the laughter had died down.

Rather than reply to this, Emily simply snorted with laughter and leaned in closer to Hotch, kissing his shoulder before lying down against it.  
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There, one more chapter to go and we're out of the Christmas season. Oh and the duck obsession Henry has is the same obsession I had when I was his age... I've seen pictures! Tell me what you thought. =)


	34. Christmas Cheer 3

Right, so its chapter three of the Christmas chapter and it's the last Christmas chapter as well, but I've had an idea for a New Years chapter, so the holiday season isn't quite over yet.

I'm so sorry I'm posting chapters so slowly! My laptop is broken and I'm just lucky I had half this chapter saved on a USB stick! But on Sunday my laptop will be back and I will post faster, pinky promise. :)  
_

"People love others not for who they are but for how they make them feel" – Irwin Federman.  
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The women and Morgan... who could cook surprisingly well thanks to his mother... spent the rest of the day in the kitchen preparing the feast for later as the men played with the toys, Jack finally showing an interest in his toy car, as him an Hotch were now driving it into the kitchen every few minutes and crashing it into Emily's heels, as she'd wisely decided to go barefoot.

By three o clock everyone was becoming hungry, even Reid, having eaten nothing since their breakfast at six in the morning.

Thankfully, at half three on the dot JJ called the men in from the living room for food, each scrambling to their feet as if they hadn't been fed in day, and sitting around the huge table in the dining room... which had a picnic table added at the end to accommodate everyone... waiting for their food to arrive.

"I really hope you aren't just going to sit there and wait for food to appear." Emily told them, with her hand on her hip. "This isn't Hogwarts you know, the food isn't just going to come up through the table."

The men at the table immediately flinched at her scolding and got up quickly to help bring all the food from the kitchen to the dining room table, before sitting back down with the women.

Rossi sat at the head of the table, with Morgan sitting at the foot of it, at the picnic table. To Morgan's left, was Garcia, then Kevin, then Will, Henry in his high chair, and finally JJ sat o Rossi's right. To Rossi's left was Hotch, then Jack, then Emily, who was beside Austin, and finally Reid at the end, to Morgan's right.

The table was lively and the conversation never lulled, as they started with a plate of melon, followed by soup, made by Morgan using his mother's secret recipe. That was followed by turkey, ham, and JJ's homemade stuffing, along with an array of vegetables, ranging from boucle sprouts, which remained largely untouched other than Jack and Kevin, to carrots.

Dessert was courtesy of Emily, baked Alaska being the only thing she could actually make without blowing something up, and despite everyone initial hesitation... each of them swearing blind that at one point or another Emily had given them food poisoning... it was delicious.

Thankfully Rossi owned the largest dishwasher in DC... which was odd, as JJ had pointed out, considering that he was one of the few people that didn't need it, seeing as he lived alone... and all the teams' dishes fitted in there with ease, leaving the kitchen spotless again within five minutes.

"Right, what now?" Morgan questioned the team, as they stood around the kitchen marvelling at how quickly they'd cleaned up.

"How about we open our secret Santa presents now and then we relax for the rest of the evening?" Rossi asked the room, looking hopeful at the thought of relaxing.

"Sounds like a plan." Hotch told his friend, as he placed down the dish cloth he'd been holding.

"One of your few good ones." JJ teased, as she picked Henry out if his high chair and walked back to the living room with him, where their presents were still all sitting in the corner from the previous evening.

"Ok, us first!" Garcia squeaked, as she rushed over to get her present for Kevin, as Kevin followed her to retrieve his.

They swapped their gifts and opened them eagerly, Kevin receiving two tickets to a comic-con and a collectors addition DC comic, and Garcia receiving a piece for a hard drive... which she'd apparently been looking for, for months... and a copy of the first published tank girl comic, which was also apparently a collector's item.

"Hm... two comic con tickets... I wonder who I'll bring with me." Kevin joked, as he viewed the tickets in his hand.

"Honey, I wouldn't even joke about that... I may love you, but if you don't bring me to this comic con your head will be severed from your body." Garcia informed Kevin calmly, patting his shoulder and kissing him on the cheek as the rest of the team laughed.

Next up was JJ and Will, and they exchanged gifts happily, JJ opened hers first and received a Redskins jersey and an expensive looking handbag.

"Thank you for the jersey honey." JJ gushed, kissing Will on the cheek. "And thanks for the bag girls." She added smiling at Emily and Garcia.

"Hey, I got ya that!" Will exclaimed.

The woman in the room each looked at Will with a smirk and the men shook their heads, informing him silently that he should admit defeat.

"Well I bought it though." He huffed after a moment.

"And it really is lovely babe... just not something you'd buy." JJ informed him, kissing him on the other cheek now.

Will smiled happily then, and proceeded to open his present, revealing a large instrument case that held a brand new saxophone.

"Well you're always telling me that the one thing you miss about New Orleans is the music, and your cousin informed me that you're quite the musician." JJ informed him when he opened the gift, earning her a soft kiss from Will.

Jack and Henry opened there's next, Jack receiving a Super Man statue that he could put in his room, and Henry receiving a lamp in the shape of a duck, both presents making the boys exceptionally happy.

"Ok us next." Austin said. "I hope you like this by the way." She added to Reid as she handed him his gift and he handed her one to her.

Reid opened the paper carefully, trying not to rip the wrapping, and the young genius smiled happily once he found a stainless steel antique chess set, and the book "A Clockwork Orange".

"Your old chess set is breaking, and I've been informed that that's the only book you've never read." Austin informed him happily, before tearing off her wrapping paper quickly.

Hers revealed a simple black jewellery box, and she opened the lid slowly to find not only a beautiful diamond necklace and matching diamond earrings, but also, folded neatly in the box, a voucher for a tattoo parlour.

"Wow Spencer, this is beautiful." Austin gushed as she lifted the necklace out and examined it closer. "But honey, this voucher is marked as being used?" She added in confusion as she examined it as well.

"I know." Reid replied, causing the entire room to send him a weary look. "But you were going on about how much you loved your tattoo, so I got one as well." He informed her with a dopey grin.

A chorus of "oh god" echoed around the room, each person covering their heads in their hands, no one expecting good things to come from Reid getting a tattoo, as the young genius pulled his arm out of his jumper and revealed the tattoo on his upper arm.

"November twenty sixth, two thousand and eight." Austin read out loud. "Isn't that the day we met?" She asked with a smile.

"Yup, I wanted to get your name, but the guy there advised me against it for some reason." Reid explained with a confused look.

"Yea sweety, it's if we ever break up, tattoo guys advise against getting your other halves name in ink because it costs a bomb t get rid of." Austin informed him. "But don't worry." She added when she saw the look on Reid's face. "I'm holding on to you." She reassured him, leaning down and kissing the still tender tattoo.

"Ok, Morgan and Rossi next I think!" Emily exclaimed with a wicked smirk, knowing that both men really hadn't a clue as to what to get each other.

Both men looked reluctant as they exchanged similar looking gifts, and a ripple of laughter erupted as they tore the wrapping of at the same time to reveal identical bottles of Bailey's whisky, they were even the same flavour... coffee.

"Great minds think alike." Rossi joked after a moment of awkwardness.

"And fools seldom differ." Emily added on to the end, causing Rossi and Morgan to glare at her.

"Ok, us now." Hotch spoke up, pulling Emily along with him as they rose of the couch and retrieved their presents, from the small pile.

They sat back down and swapped them quickly and Hotch tore off his paper first, revealing a tie that had "this is my only tie" written on the front... which caused the team to laugh... and a collection of the beetle's greatest hits along with an electronic tuning device for a guitar.

"What?" Hotch asked as the team stared in awe at the tuner. "Will's not the only one who can play an instrument." He told them defensively.

Emily then opened her present slowly revealing a silver picture frame with a picture of herself and Jack, taken a couple of weeks ago at the park, as Emily pushed the young boy on the swing. Beside the frame was a native American dream catcher.

"Oh Aaron." Emily sighed, as she looked at both the items that were now in her hand.

"The picture you can put in your drawer at work, so you can see it but Strauss can't." Hotch informed her. "And the dream catcher is to stop your nightmares." He told her, feeling no need to add the fact that he knew her dreams had gotten worse since he'd been attacked by Foyet, even though she tried to hide it from him when she woke up in the middle of the night.

"They're both beautiful." She told him happily, leaning over and planting a soft, lingering kiss on Hotch's lips.

~.~.~.~.~.~

An hour or so later the team sat out on Rossi's huge porch, watching as Morgan tried to teach Jack how to do a wheelie on the small patch of snow free land that they'd managed to clear away.

"Yea buddy... something like that." Morgan sighed in defeat after an hour or so of teaching, as he watched Jack throw his body forwards and backwards, causing the bike to tip violently in each direction, and causing Hotch and Emily to let out a small gasp every time he nearly fell.

"How about we have a snow fight?" JJ piped up suddenly, as she walked out of the house carrying a baby monitor, having just put Henry down for his nap.

"Not a chance." Rossi exclaimed, as the rest of the team jumped off their seats, happy for a chance to practice their aim... and more importantly, for a chance to pummel each other with snow.

"Oh come on... don't be a spoil sport!" Garcia sighed. "We'd feel bad not including you."

"No... My snow throwing days are over." Rossi informed the group, crossing his arms across his chest in resilience.

What he didn't see however, was Morgan, Hotch, Reid, Will and Kevin all approach him from behind, each of them grabbing his chair and lifting it clean off the ground and carrying him, along with the chair, down to where the snow fight would take place.

"What the hell!" Rossi exclaimed, as his legs dangled in the air.

"You're on Hotch's team, and don't say you're not because we'll just drag you down here again." Morgan informed him, as the men placed the chair carefully on the ground.

Rossi huffed, but said no more, as he followed Hotch over behind a small wall of snow where the rest of the team... Emily, Jack, Will and JJ... were all crouched down creating snow balls.

They stayed like this until a battle cry was heard from the other end of the field, and they sprung their heads up, fully armed with snow balls, just as Morgan, Kevin, Garcia, Reid, and Austin jumped out from behind their snow wall and charged at them.

"Attack!" Hotch shouted suddenly at his team, and they followed suit, jumping over the barricade and running out into the open, firing snow balls as they went.

They kept this up for at least an hour, only returning to base to retrieve more snow, until Henrys wails cut through the field and caused them all to stop what they were doing.

"Looks like that's my queue to say I surrender." JJ informed them, as she dusted the snow off her clothes and out of her hair, and walked slowly up to the house, limping slightly due to a tackle she'd received from Morgan.

"Yea, I think I'm going o go as well... I told you my snow days were over." Rossi informed the team, as he shook himself off ant wandered back up to his porch, panting slightly as he went.

After that the rest of the team slowly left as well, each of them beat after their early morning and now their snow fight, until finally it was only Jack left, making snow angels and giggling happily.

"I'm so glad that you're all leaving tomorrow." Rossi sighed contently after a moment, taking a sip of the whisky that Morgan had gotten him, and smiling contently.

"Jeez thanks." JJ replied, as she held a wrapped up Henry in her arms, the young boy deciding he wanted to be outside.

"Not that it wasn't fun having you all here... A guy just needs some space." Rossi added haistilly.

"Well get your space now, because we're coming back for New Years." Emily informed him with a smirk.

"I knew there was a reason I never got a family before now." Rossi groaned, as the rest of the team laughed.  
_

Well there you go, Christmas is all over, and now it's just going to be a quick New Year's chapter and then I'm done with the holiday season, I promise. Tell me what you thought. =)


	35. New Year, New Begining

Well this is a chapter about New Years now... and let's just say that a new year brings a new beginning.  
_

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instil in us." – Hal Borland  
_

"Poor Dave must be getting real sick of seeing us." Emily laughed, as she stepped out of the passenger side of the car for the second time that week, and looked up at Rossi's mansion.

"He loves us really." Hotch joked, as he moved around to the side door and helped Jack out, scooping the young boy up to his side with one arm, and taking out the shopping bags of food they'd brought along with the other arm.

The trio made their way through the thick snow and up to Rossi's door and knocked twice before letting themselves in.

"Why knock and then just walk in?" Rossi asked once they entered the house. "That sort of defeats the purpose of me coming all the way from the sitting room to see who's there." He added.

"Hello to you too." Hotch joked, as he placed Jack down and let the small boy run in to find the rest of his family.

"Don't worry Dave; the exercise is good for you." Emily teased as she brushed the snow off her jacket, causing Dave to glare at her as the white powder formed small puddles on his wooden floor.

"Yea, yea whatever, the rest of the gang's in the sitting room." Rossi told them with a frown, as Emily and Hotch both took off their jackets and shoes.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Dinner's served." Hotch called from the kitchen at eight o clock that evening, as the woman all sat around the fire laughing, and Jack and Henry both sat in the corner playing quietly, having just woken up from their naps.

"This should be interesting." Emily laughed, as she rose slowly from the floor, and walked over to get Jack.

"Why did we think this would be a good idea?" Garcia asked with a laugh, referring to the fact that the woman had told Hotch, Reid, Rossi, Will and Kevin that it was their turn to cook dinner, seeing as they'd cooked at Christmas... they of course had forced Morgan to help them, as he was the only man of the group that had proven he could actually cook.

All four women, plus Jack and Henry made their way into the kitchen, where their jaws almost hit the floor, when they saw the spread covering the dining room table.

There was melon starter, with what looked like a strawberry sauce, roast beef for the main course, with roast, mashed, boiled and garlic potatoes, not to mention an array of vegetables all covering the table.

"None of this looks burnt." Emily commented sceptically as she sat down, placing Jack in the seat to her left.

"That's because none of it is burnt darling." Hotch informed her as he sat down on the other side of Jack "Now tuck in and we made a chocolate cake for desert." He added, causing the women to smile.

"This is too good to be true." Austin said, as she viewed the meal in front of her, her mouth salivating at the sight of it all.

"It is actually." JJ replied, as she walked out of the kitchen holding Henry in one arm and the wrapping from a microwave vegetable set in the other. "Look what I found when I was going to get Henry's bottle out of the fridge." She told the room, holding up the accusing piece of plastic and waving it around. "There's also a cake box, and about ten different microwave potatoes sets in there." She added with a smirk.

"Busted." Garcia laughed as she began filling her plate with vegetables and boiled potatoes.

"Guess who's doing the dishes." Emily smirked as she pulled two pieces of roast beef and some vegetables onto her plate.

"Damn!" The men exclaimed under their breath in tandem, blushing at the fact that they'd been caught read handed.

The woman all laughed, before the entire team tucked into their delicious... even if it was shop bought... meal.

~.~.~.~.~.~

An hour or so after the meal was over and the men had cleaned the kitchen, the team found themselves sitting around the fire again, a glass of mulled wine in their hands as they chatted quietly.

After a moment, Hotch came into the room from his and Emily's room, and slid into the couch beside Emily wrapping his arm around her waist and allowing her to lean her head against his shoulder as she chatted to Rossi, Garcia nd Austin.

"You want to go for a walk?" Hotch whispered quietly to Emily, kissing around her ear as he spoke.

"Sure." Emily replied tilting her head back and smiling happily, as she excused herself from the conversation she was having, and got up slowly, linking hands with Hotch as they walked down the hall and out into the night breeze.

They walked in silence across the yard and into the woods that lay beside the frozen lake, happy to look around them at the beauty of the forest, and they didn't stop until they reached a small clearing.

"This has got to be the most beautiful place in the world." Emily sighed contently after a moment, looking around her in awe as she wrapped her arms around Hotch's and leant against him.

"Even more so with you here." Hotch replied, not taking his eyes off Emily.

"Jeez, cheesy much darling." Emily teased, as she looked at him for the first time, smiling shyly when she saw that he was staring back intently.

"No... Just telling the truth." Hotch replied, returning her smile, with one that brought out both his dimples.

"Ok, what's brought this on?" Emily asked with a nervous laugh. "Are you ok?" She asked, sounding slightly scared.

"I am... and I have been for one year, two months and twenty days." He replied, smiling lovingly at her.

"Right... because you talking cryptically is going to reassure me that you're fine." Emily laughed nervously. "Aaron... is there something you ne..." Emily stared, but the words caught in her throat at what Hotch done next.

The man in front of her, slowly got down on one knee, and pulled a small velvet box out of his jacket pocket, never taking his eyes off Emily.

"Jesus Christ!" Emily exclaimed quietly, as her eyes bulged out of her head.

"Emily Prentiss, I may not be Jesus Christ." Hotch joked, before turning serious. "But I promised you two months ago, when I asked you to move in, that someday I would propose, and that someday I'd stand at the bottom of an aisle and wait for you, and some day... we were going to grow old together, and I also told you that, because of all the Foyet crap, that I couldn't make any of them promises yet... but now I can." He told her, his voice wavering slightly with nerves. "Emily, I love you... I've loved you since Chicago, maybe even before then, but all I know is that I really don't want to live without you, I need you, and Jack needs you, and I'm ready to make those promises, I'm ready to make that commitment to you... and it's a new year Emily... a new year with new beginnings." He told her, as he watched tears pool in Emily's eyes.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked with a sniffle, as she wiped some tears away.

"Am I sure? I was expecting more along the lines of a yes or no answer." Hotch joked. "But yes Em, I'm two hundred per cent sure, I love you and I want to be with you for as long as you'll have me, which I'm hoping is forever." He told her with a smile.

"Then... yes." Emily stated, as a child like look of glee appeared on her face. "Yes Aaron, yes I'll marry you... I don't even know why you needed to ask, I love you! I love you! I love you!" Was all Emily managed to squeal out before jumping Hotch and wrapping her arms and legs around him and causing them to both fall into the snow.

"Wasn't expecting such a hyper reaction." Hotch laughed, as he clutched Emily tightly.

"Darling, I may not be a girly girl." Emily informed him, causing Hotch to snort in laughter at the thought. "But I was just proposed to by the man of my dreams... give me a moment of squealing." She laughed as she lifted her head off Hotch's chest and looked him in the eye.

Once their eyes met, it wasn't long before their lips did, and they crashed together, the happiness they were both feeling being poured into the kiss with every fibre of their being, as their lips parted naturally and passion overtook them, as their tongues battled for dominance, and their hands roamed each other's bodies.

"Stop." Emily breathed after a moment, pulling away from Hotch breathlessly as he lifted her top slightly.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"How about we wait until later to continue this." Emily giggled. "Frost bite in certain places would be pretty hard to explain not to mention if the team found out we'd never live it down." She added.

"Good point." Hotch replied, as he stood slowly, lifting Emily with him. "Here, this is yours." He added, pulling Emily's hand towards him and slipping a simple silver band, with small ruby's in a swirl on the front.

"That's beautiful." Emily sighed as she looked down at her hand.

"Only the best for you my dear." Hotch replied, as he kiss her hand softly.

"Seriously, you've got to stop being cheesy." Emily smirked as they began to walk back towards Rossi's house, hand in hand. "It'll taint your hard ass image." She added.

"I'm just after proposing and you still find flaw in me." Hotch laughed, as he pulled Emily closer to his side and placed a kiss on her hair line as they walked.

"Let me have my fun." Emily joked.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Well there you two are... we were about to send out a search pa..." Rossi started, when Emily and Hotch came back into the sitting room, but he was cut off by Garcia.

"Oh. My. God!" She squeaked, jumping up quickly and staring at Emily's hand.

"What's the heck's the matter?"Kevin asked, shocked at her outburst.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Garcia relied, still jumping.

"Someone care to fill me in?" Morgan spoke up, looking extremely confused. "JJ, is this a girl thing or something?" He asked.

JJ was about to reply with an "I have no idea" shoulder shrug when she followed Garcia's line of site to the brand new ring on Emily's finger.

"Shut up! No fricking way! Finally!" JJ exclaimed, as she stared in shock at Emily's hand.

"Wow!" Austin breathed out, as she too copped on to what the rest of the woman on the team were squealing about, as her eyes almost popped out of her head at the sight of the ring.

"Is there a full moon tonight or something." Rossi quipped, as he looked between the three women.

"Even better!"Garcia informed him; still talking in a voice so high pitched it was only audible to dogs, but having calmed down enough to actually talk now.

"What's going on?" Reid asked, having gone into shock at the antics of his team mates.

"Uh... I think their talking about this." Emily finally informed the team happily, holding out her hand so her ring sparkled in the light that was shining from the light fixture above.

"Is that what I think it is?" Morgan asked in surprise.

"No Morgan, it's a toaster." Emily replied sarcastically, causing everyone to laugh.

"Em, Hotch... I'm so happy for you guys." Morgan told them, standing up and clapping Hotch on the back, before enveloping Emily into a warm hug.

"We all are." Rossi added, as he too stood up to hug his friends, closely followed by the rest of the team, Garcia and JJ coming last and almost crushing their friends in hugs, still a bit over excited.

"Where's Jack?" Hotch asked once everyone was done congratulating them, wanting to tell his son.

"He's in his room sleeping... He wanted to stay up, but he was just too tired so we put him to bed." Garcia informed him.

"Thanks." Hotch said, before turning to Emily, and entwining their fingers, beginning to walk towards Jacks room.

"Maybe we shouldn't wake him." Emily said suddenly, causing Hotch to stop in his tracks. "I mean maybe we shouldn't tell him until after New Year, when he's settled again." She added.

"Maybe you're right." Hotch agreed after a moment of thinking. "We can tell him when we're back at home, and when he's not as tired." He mused, nodding his head slowly.

"Well then, looks like there's only one thing left to do." JJ called happily. "Celebrate!" She squealed, holding up a bottle of champagne with a bright smile.

"That's sixty years old... I was saving that for a special occasion!" Rossi gasped, as he watched JJ pop the cork in horror.

"Stop being the Grinch, this is a special occasion, so look happy." Garcia chastised playfully, as she handed him a glass.

"Fine then." Rossi huffed playfully. "To a new year, and to Hotch and Em!" He toasted, raising his glass high in the air.

"To a new year, and to Hotch and Em!" The team copied, raising their glasses high and clinking them with the person next to them.  
_

There. I hope that I done this chapter justice, because I wanted them to get engaged in the snow right from the start of the story. I realise Hotch was OOC and cheesy there (like very cheesy) but that's sort of the way he acted around Haley in season 1 so that's what I was basing it on. Tell me what you thought. =)


	36. New Mommy?

Ok... so I'm not really sure where this chapter is going yet, I'm sort of just going with the flow, because the idea's I have I don't want to write until they're fully formed in my head. So anyway, this is after the episode "Risky Business".

It's January 2010, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 44.

"Nothing travels faster than light, with the possible exception of bad news, which follows its own rules." – Douglas Adams.  
_

Emily hummed contently to the song playing on the radio in the kitchen, as she amerced her hands in warm soapy water, reaching to her elbows, as she washed up after quite a messy baking session.

Hotch had been acting oddly since they'd gotten back from the Wyoming two days ago and Emily had decided to bake brownies to cheer him up.

He was still at work, but Jack had been bouncing around the house all day in excitement at the prospect of the gooey chocolate heaven that was brownies, so Hotch had told them to go ahead and make them, and to save him a few.

Looking back, Emily wasn't sure if Hotch had used work as a ploy to get out of the actual baking, as she'd forgotten just how messy Jack could be... the four year old still not having fully grasped the concept that the mixture needed to be in the bowl, and not all over the kitchen.

Emily was pulled out of this thought when the said four year old trotted into the kitchen with the remains of a brownie on his face and hands, smiling from ear to ear.

"That was yummy Emmy, thank you!" He exclaimed happily, licking his lips to show how tasty his treat had been.

"Don't thank me sweety, thank Betty Crocker's readymade brownie mix." Emily laughed, as she started drying some of the dishes.

"Who?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Never mind buddy... you just go and clean your hands and face." Emily replied, smiling when she saw that more of the brownie had gotten on Jacks face and hands than he'd eaten.

Jack simply shrugged his shoulders and nodded, before scurrying off to the bathroom, returning a moment later with a clean face and hands, and pulling out one of the seats, so he could sit at the island that lay between the kitchen and the living room.

"Emmy." Jack spoke up after a moment once he'd gotten himself comfortable on the tall bar stool, drawing Emily's attention away from the spoon she was drying.

"Yes Jackster." Emily replied, placing the spoon down and taking a step closer to the young boy.

"You know how you and daddy are getting married." He said, as he played with Emily's engagement ring, that she'd taken off and placed on the table while she was washing the dishes so it wouldn't fall off. "Does that mean you're my new mommy?" He enquired.

At Jack's words Emily froze. She'd known that this conversation was inevitable ever since Hotch had told Jack about their engagement when they'd gotten back from Dave's... but she'd always hoped that Hotch would be here when Jack asked, as she didn't know how to answer that question, and it wasn't really her place.

"Well..." Emily started, but she paused and sighed after that, not really knowing how to continue. "Well, it's up to you buddy." She told him finally. "I love you with all my heart whether you call me Emmy, or mommy."

"Well I don't have a mommy... so you could be my mommy." Jack responded almost sadly.

"Jack, come here." Emily said when Jack spoke, picking the small boy off the chair and pulling him into a hug once he spoke. "You do have a mommy, and she loved you very much, she just had to go away to the angels, but she's still your mommy."She told the small boy.

"Yea... but my friend Peter told me that I don't have a mommy, because I call you Emmy and I call no one mommy." Jack informed Emily, looking obviously upset by the fact.

"Well your friend Peter is wrong." Emily replied. "In fact, Peter is probably jealous; because he only has a mommy... you have an Emmy, and a mommy." She added, trying to cheek Jack up.

"But his mom is living... my mommy's with the angels." Jack told her.

"You know your mommy only went to live with the angels because she loved you right?" Emily asked the young boy, hoping that this Peter kid wasn't getting Jack down too much.

"I know that." Jack replied with a sad smile. "She went to heaven so George wouldn't hurt me." He recited, having been told by Hotch what had happened once his nightmares began to get really bad, as a way of telling Jack that as long as him mom was watching over him he'd be ok.

"Well then, Peter is jealous, because his mommy wasn't as brave or as strong as yours was." Emily whispered to Jack, hugging the little boy close to her chest.

"So is it ok if I call you Emmy?" Jack asked after a brief silence, back to his normal happy self now that the Peter issue had been cleared up... for now.

"It's more than ok buddy." Emily replied with a smile, as she hugged the little boy again.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"What's up?" Hotch asked, as he gazed into Emily's dark eyes as she lay on his chest silently, both of them lying on the couch.

"Nothing..." Emily sighed, proving to Hotch that there was definitely something bothering her. "Here." She added, as she popped another piece of the brownie that was in her hand into Hotch's mouth.

"Really Em, tell me what's wrong." He managed to say in between chews of the extremely gooey brownie.

"Other than the fact that you're talking with your mouth full you mean?" Emily teased, popping the final piece of brownie into her own mouth.

"Oh ha, ha." Hotch replied once he'd finished eating. "Really though, tell me what's bothering you." He asked her again.

"Just something Jack said to me today." Emily informed him with a sigh. "He wanted to know if I was his new mom." She added, bracing herself for Hotch's reaction, even though she was sure it wouldn't be a bad one... Haley's death wasn't as tabooed a subject as it had been three months ago, but it could still be a touchy subject, especially after a difficult case.

"Oh... and?" Hotch asked, not sounding to phased by the situation, much to Emily's relief.

"And I told him it was up to him whether he called me Emmy or mommy." Emily replied. "So he chose to call me Emmy." She informed him.

"And..." Hotch prompted, being able to tell from the look in Emily's eye that there was something else was well.

"And... he also told me there was a kid at school giving him a hard time about the fact that he didn't have a mom." Emily blurted out quickly, figuring that telling Hotch this would be like pulling off a very nasty plaster.

"What?" Hotch exclaimed, sitting up quickly and almost causing Emily to fall off his chest in the process as she just about managed to cling onto the back of the couch.

"I told him that the kid, Peter, was jealous, and that his mommy was with the angels looking after him... but I think he's still pretty upset about it." Emily added, reaching out to rub Hotch's shoulders soothingly.

"First thing tomorrow." Hotch managed to growl out. "First thing tomorrow I'm going to Jack's school, I don't care how much work I have."

"I'm off tomorrow... I can go too if you like." Emily told him, knowing he may need support, otherwise he may cause a very nasty scene in the middle of Jack's school.

"Yea, ok." Hotch replied gruffly, staring in to space with a frown as he let Emily push him back on to the couch and let her lie on him again.

"Right, then in that case, lets relax before tomorrow." Emily sighed, as she closed her eyes, and let Hotch's arms wrap around her waist.  
_

There... I know, poor Jack! But it'll be ok in the end, don't worry. Tell me what you thought, and thanks for reading! =)


	37. School Meetings

Ok so Emily and Hotch are going to Jack's school today, and Peter's father is a person from Emily's past she'd really rather not run into.  
_

"We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude." – Charles R. Swindoll.  
_

Hotch and Emily both exited the SUV and made their way up the concrete steps to Jacks school silently, on their way to a meeting with the headmaster and Peter Cunningham's parents, as Hotch had called the school first thing that morning.

"I really wish we didn't have to do this." Hotch muttered, still angry at the fact that some kid was picking on Jack.

"Hey, at least we're not half ways across the country on some case... at least we can deal with it now instead of having to wait god only knows how long to get home and deal with it." Emily responded, trying to see the positive, even though she too was pissed off.

"Please, it's not like the team wouldn't have carried us back here on their backs if we were on a case... Did you not see the look on their faces when we told them why I wouldn't be in today?" Hotch asked her, shooting her a sideways glance as he pulled open the front door of the school.

"How could I have missed it?" Emily replied with a chuckle. "Morgan almost needed to be tied down to stop him from coming here, and Garcia looked like she was going to kill the Peter kid and anyone who got in her way."

"Exactly... so if today doesn't resolve things... we can just send in the backup." Hotch joked, before sobering up had heading towards the sectary's office.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"How about you go in to the headmaster and I'll wait here." Emily whispered, once the sectary had showed them to the small waiting space outside the office. "You should probably go in on your own because I'm not actually Jack's mother, plus I never really liked principal's offices... they always meant trouble for me." She added, when she saw the look on Hotch's face.

"Why doesn't that surprise me." Hotch teased, smiling briefly at Emily.

"Oh be quiet." Emily laughed back.

Just then a woman they presumed was Peter's mother walked down the hall and smiled at them, before taking the seat opposite them in the corridor. Neither profiler missed the fact that the sectary hadn't needed to show her where the office was.

"Not your first time here?" Emily asked politely, wanting to get as much information as she could on Peter's parents.

"Unfortunately it's not." The woman sighed. "I think my son takes after my ex husband." She added. "Yet despite that, he's always the one who comes in five minutes late when Peters in trouble and avoids the bad parent lecture." She added.

"Oh right." Emily replied, already assessing that the woman was actually quite nice, and seemed genuinely embarrassed and annoyed that her son was in trouble.

"And I'm sorry Peter's been harassing your son." The woman added. "I will make him apologise."

"Thank you." Hotch replied, smiling tightly at the woman before looking back at the door.

"Mr Hotchner, Mrs Cunningham, please come in." The principal called suddenly from the door, watching as both parents rose from their seats. "Oh, you must be Miss Prentiss... are you coming in?" The principal added when she saw Emily still sitting.

"Oh no, I'll stay here, wouldn't want to get in the way." Emily replied politely, a brief look of horror crossing her face at the prospect of entering a principal's office.

"Very well. Oh, Mrs Cunningham, where's your ex husband?" the headmaster asked again, as she looked around her, expecting a man to jump out from behind a filing cabinet.

"Oh Mick's running late... as usual." The woman sighed, shaking her head. "But it's ok, he text me telling us to start without him." She added, rolling her eyes at her ex husband's slackness.

With that, Hotch, Mrs Cunningham and the principal all disappeared into the office, leaving Emily out in the corridor on her own.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Hotch and Mrs Cunningham had been in the office a good five minutes, in which time Emily had begun looking through and answering her emails, when the sound of footsteps began echoing through the corridor and Emily looked up from her phone to see a man making his way towards her slowly, his walk somewhere near a saunter but not quite sophisticated enough.

Emily couldn't help but stare discretely from over the top of her phone, as she pretended to keep answering emails, and she couldn't help but feel like she recognised the man from somewhere.

It wasn't until he was a couple of meters away that Emily finally joined al the dots and realised who the man was... Mick Cunningham, one of her few ex boyfriends, the one who'd had a go at Hotch in the middle of the shop in Seattle fourteen years ago... maybe he'd forgotten her by now?

Emily bent her head again, returning to her phone, before she could find out if he did recognised her or not, and began kicking herself mentally for not realising who it was... when Mrs Cunningham had said her ex husband's name was Mick, she'd presumed they were already divorced, and that Cunningham was her maiden name... but obviously not!

Emily was about to get up and look for a bathroom... or anywhere that he could escape to... when a familiar voice shattered through her ears, causing her to grimace.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the lovely Emily Prentiss!" Mick said, feigning surprise as he took the seat beside her.

"Do I know you?" Emily questioned, as she looked up from her phone and pretended this was the first time she'd seen Mick.

"Aw, come on now Emily, don't be like that, it's me, Mick... but then you already knew that, you're just playing hard to get... again!" Mick replied cockily, shooting her a grin and revealing his once pearly white teeth, which had now gained a yellow tinge from years of smoking.

"Oh right, well I'm kind of busy right now." Emily replied coldly, not even looking up from her phone this time.

"So what are you doing here anyway... didn't peg you as the mommy type." Mick continued, completely ignoring Emily's request at privacy.

"Just shows how well you knew me then." Emily replied with a tight smile, trying her best not to glare at the man, who was slowly wearing away at her self-restraint.

"I know you're not married." Mick replied with a wink, as he motioned to Emily's hand, which only housed her engagement ring, and it wasn't exactly a traditional looking one... it couldn't be encase Strauss ever seen it.

"I guess you're half right." Emily sighed, looking down at her hand briefly.

"Ah, so does that mean I get half a chance with you again?" Mick inquired hopefully, arrogance seeping through every word he spoke.

"Ok really Mick, what kind of a man flirts with a woman outside the principal's office when their child is in trouble?" Emily snapped, finally looking up to meet Mick's eye and glaring.

Mick was about to reply when the office door opened once more and Hotch, Mrs Cunningham, the Principal, Jack and Peter all trooped out, Jack and Peter looking like best friends again.

Emily looked up to catch Hotch's eye and then motioned to Mick, waiting for Hotch's understanding nod of his head, before she returned her attention to Jack, who was now making his way over.

"Guess what Emmy!" Jack exclaimed happily once he reached Emily's feet, holding his arms out and letting Emily lift him up and plant him against her hip.

"What is it buddy?" Emily asked, smiling at the fact that Jack was also smiling.

"Me and Peter are friends again, and we're going to play with the trucks in the classroom now." Jack responded, looking as if this piece of knowledge was the most important thing anyone would ever know.

"Wow that sounds like fun!" Emily laughed. "How about you go back to class with Peter now then." She added, placing the squirming boy down and watching as he hugged Hotch goodbye and ran off to class with Peter.

Hotch and Emily then proceeded to their car, leaving Mick and his ex wife behind to talk some more with the principal, probably about Peters tendency to get in trouble.

"Who was that?" Hotch whispered once they reached the SUV, not wanting to speak up encase Mick, or anyone else came out of the school.

"Mick's an ex of mine... that guy from Seattle, the one who tried to pick a fight with you." Emily informed Hotch, all the while watching as Mick walked out of the school, bid a cold farewell to his wife, and watched her drive away. "And looks like he's not quite ready to go home yet." She added with a sigh as Mick began making his way towards them.

"Cute son you've got there Emily... it's a shame we're not still together, then maybe ours would be just as pretty." Mick commented with a smirk at Hotch.

"Shut up Mick." Emily hissed, knowing that talking about Jack as if he were Emily's son was probably not the best idea when around Hotch.

"Why? Afraid lover boy there will get jealous?" Mick laughed, again smirking a Hotch.

"I'm guessing you don't remember me then." Hotch asked Mick, resisting the urge to let the glare drop from his face and be replaced with and equally cocky grin.

Mick looked Hotch over once, twice, three times, before a spark of recognition was ignited in his eyes and he looked Hotch dead in the eye, looking almost nervous.

"Well if it isn't Emily's knight in shining armour." Mick teased. "Didn't have you pegged as the kind of girl who falls for the first guy that calls her pretty either Emily." Mick sneered, referring to the lack of self esteem that everyone knew Emily had... if you looked deep enough.

"Not only will I kick your ass if you ever say anything like that to Emily again... or anything at all for that matter... but I know a man who could send you into orbit with one punch." Hotch hissed, unleashing his alpha male side, and mentioning Morgan to double his threat.

"I'm shaking." Mick laughed, subconsciously taking a step back as he spoke however.

"You'll be doing a lot more than shaking is you ever come near Emily again." Hotch growled, maximising his one inch height advantage over the man, and turning his glare up to full blown "daggers of death" as the team called them.

Mick looked as if he were about to reply, but Emily cut in, stopping him just as he opened his mouth.

"Seriously Mick, just leave it ok... No one wants to fight, so please just go away." She pleaded, wedging herself between the two men slightly.

"I guess I'll see you around then Emily." Mick answered with a wink and yet another of his cocky grins, before walking back towards his car and glaring at Hotch the whole time.

"You ok?" Hotch asked soothingly once Mick had pulled out of the parking lot, placing his strong hands on Emily's shoulders.

"I'm fine... I'm perfectly fine." Emily responded sarcastically as she leaned into his touch, still being pissed off that Mick would be here of all places to meet after so many years. "I just want to go home now." She added with a sigh, knowing that Hotch had the full day off, so she could spend time with him.

"Well then darling, your wish is my command." Hotch responded, kissing Emily's forehead gently.  
_

There, that's that chapter done, finally! I had writers block about half ways through this, but I think I'm over it, so YAY! As you may have already guessed the Mick story line will be revisited, but not for another couple of chapters. Tell me what you thought. =)


	38. I Want a Family

Ok so the next few chapters aren't going to be as fluffy as my previous chapters... just thought I'd warn you! So this is after the episode "Solitary Man".

It's March 2010, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 44.  
_

"Finally, I suspect that it is by entering that deep place inside us where our secrets are kept that we come perhaps closer than we do anywhere else to the one who, whether we realize it or not, is of all our secrets the most telling and the most precious we have to tell." - Frederick Buechner  
_

Hotch was glad it was the weekend... in fact he was ecstatic that he finally had the weekend off to spend with Emily, and Jack, and the threesome were planning on going to the zoo because Jack had been wanting to go since he'd seen a documentary about monkeys on TV.

He rolled over in bed to find it empty, which oddly enough had been happening every morning since they'd gotten back from the trucker case four days ago.

Hotch quietly crept out of bed, knowing that whatever Emily was doing she stopped whenever he woke up, and he slowly made his way towards the study, where light could be seen streaming through the slightly ajar doorway.

He peeped through the crack in the door, and spotted Emily sitting in the black, stainless steel swivel chair, reading something that was shining at her from the computers screen.

"Emily, what are you doing?" Hotch whispered, pushing the door open swiftly and quietly, and causing Emily to jump in her seat dramatically.

"N-n-nothing!" Emily stammered, as she regained her wits and closed the internet tab she'd opened, before Hotch had a chance to read what she'd been googling.

"Emily, you do realise that I can get Garcia to find out the exact sentence you were reading if I wanted to... so please, just tell me." Hotch informed her, worrying slightly at the fact that she was hiding things from him... they'd only been engaged three months!

"Please don't." Emily pleaded quietly, a look of fear growing on her face, at the thought of Hotch finding out what she was doing.

"Then talk to me... please." Hotch begged, hunkering down in front of the seat so he could be at Emily's level.

"I... I can't." Emily responded, sounding almost shell shocked as she spoke.

"Emily, I'm you fiancé, you can tell me anything." Hoch reminded her, shocked that she was acting like this.

Rather than respond, like Hotch had expected her too, Emily stood up and walked towards the door and out of the room, reaching up to wipe her eye before she left, causing Hotch to worry about her more.

He got up from his kneeling position and followed her, looking into their room first, before walking into the living room and finding her sitting on the couch.

"I never wanted to have to tell you..." Emily whispered, once Hotch entered the room, not even giving him a chance to speak. "I just wanted it to happen... then we'd be happy, and it wouldn't matter." She told Hotch cryptically, her voice barely audible.

"Em you're scaring me... please, just talk to me." Hotch pleaded, as he rushed over to the couch and sat in front of her, taking her hands into his own.

Truth be told she was scaring the crap out of him. She was acting oddly, and he couldn't help think of Haley, and how their marriage had ended, and Emily wasn't even his wife yet... was he really that much of a workaholic, that he could drive two women away?

"You know what happened to me in Rome, right... and about how Matthew helped me... helped me... get rid of it." Emily whispered, looking down at where Hotch's large strong hands were smothering her small delicate ones.

"Of course, of course I know... but what does that have to do with things?" Hotch asked, now even more worried, as he knew any talk about Emily's childhood was bad, whether it was about what happened in Rome or not.

"Remember the day I moved in here." Emily continued, ignoring Hotch's question. "Remember when you and the guys were making the bed and you said you wanted more kinds." She elaborated.

"Of course I do... but I don't know what you mean." Hotch whispered, a niggling feeling in the back of his mind telling him that he did know what she meant, but he chose to ignore it.

"Well I do too... I want kids Hotch, I want a house full of happy little kids, I want brothers and sisters for Jack, I want cousins for Henry, I want grandkids for my mum and dad, I want to be a grandmother some day as well, I want to watch over my new born baby as they sleep, I want to kiss boo-boo's better, I want to pace the floor at night waiting for them to come back from their first date, I want to cry when they graduate, I want to cry even more when they walk down the aisle... but I can't Aaron, I can't!" Emily whispered, her voice never wavering as she confessed this, even though large tears began to form in her eyes and crawl down her face.

"Please Emily, what are you saying... that you can't have kids, or that you can't have kids with me?" Hotch asked her pleadingly.

"The doctor I went to in Rome wasn't a very good one Aaron... I don't think... I mean it's unlikely I'll ever... I may never have a child." Emily finally told him, giving a defeated sigh and falling against Hotch's chest, shaking as she let her tears flow.

Hotch was in shock at this to say the least, and he didn't know how to respond, as he wrapped his arms around her and ran his hand up and down her back letting her cry against his chest.

"There's bound to be a way Emily, there's always a way." He whispered once Emily had regained her composure and had sat up in her seat again, wiping the remaining tears off her face.

"Well that's what I was doing online for the last few days." Emily informed him. "That little girl who was being adopted before everyone found out her dad was a serial killer... well it got me thinking... there's so many kids in the world who don't have family." She told Hotch cautiously, testing the waters of this conversation.

"You want to adopt?" Hotch questioned, not surprised at this decision... even before they were together Emily had talked about bringing Carrie home to live with her.

"I don't know... maybe?" Emily sighed, looking up at Hotch. "It's a big commitment, and there's a lot of work involved in it." She added, wanting to make him aware of the undertakings.

"There's a lot of work in raising any child Emily adopted or not." Hotch reminded her with a smile.

"So you're ok with this then?" Emily asked, a little shocked that Hotch wasn't asking more questions, or why he wasn't having a more negative reaction.

"Emily I want to have kids with you, whether they're biologically ours or not." Hotch informed her, watching as the smile grew across her face. "And I agree, there are kids in the world who need a loving family, and even though we may not be the most conventional family in the world, we're definitely the most loving." He added with a smile.

"Thank you!" Emily beamed wrapping her arms around Hotch's waist and hugging him tightly.

"Anything for you my dear, anything for you." Hotch replied, kissing her head.  
_

There, I know, I know Emily may never have kids! But having an abortion that young is bound to damage her physically, so I made it realistic... and just a little more interesting! Please tell me what you though, and thanks for all the reviews! =)


	39. Adopt

Okey doke, this is just a short chapter. Emily and Hotch talk in more detail about adopting.

P.S: can I just apologise in advance for any mistakes I make while talking about adopting. I read a bit about it online, but most of my knowledge comes from the fact that my aunt and uncle foster kids, so I'm just hoping that you have to do near enough the same courses etc to adopt as you do to foster!

It's a day or so after the last chapter.  
_

"The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing." – Walt Disney.  
_

Emily woke slowly and stifled a yawn, as she turned slightly in the bed so she could read the flashing numbers on the alarm clock beside her.

It was just after eight, and it was a Saturday... damn body clock... so she lay in bed for a few more minutes, before rising up and stretching, as she threw her legs over the edge of the bed lazily and let them find her fuzzy slippers on the floor.

She strolled out of the room leisurely and into the kitchen first to put on a pot of coffee, before turning back and making her way to the study, where she knew she'd find Hotch looking over a case file, or finishing a report.

When she poked her head around the door however, she was surprised to see that he wasn't bent double over the writing desk scribbling profusely in an attempt to finish the file before everyone else awoke.

Instead he had his eyes glued to the bright computer screen, reading whatever page he had up, and pausing to take notes every few minutes.

Even though Emily was rarely up at this hour, when she did happen to rise this early she enjoyed watching Hotch work from the doorway, so she knew that he never used the internet, as the files were mostly performance reports and cost reports so internet wouldn't help much.

This sparked interest in her mind as to what he would be doing, so she silently and stealthily pushed open the door, thinking god that all of the doors were well oiled, and crept up to his side, avoiding all the floor boards she knew to be creaky along the way.

"Hey." Emily breathed right into Hotch's ear once she was right up at his side, causing him to nearly jump out of the chair.

"Jesus Emily, someone should put a bell on you." Hotch chastised playfully once his heart rate had returned to normal.

"Mhm." Emily murmured, not fully focusing on what Hotch was saying, as she was now busy licking his ear. "What you up to anyway at this hour Mr Hotchner... I wanted to have some fun this morning." She added in a husky, sultry voice that only meant one thing.

"I was actually looking into the whole adoption thing." Hotch replied absentmindedly in an equally husky tone, as he felt Emily's actions take hold of him, and let his mind wonder.

As quickly as Emily had started though, she stopped again, the news that Hotch was looking into the adoption process sparking a greater interest in her than what she'd previously had planned for the morning.

"Really?" Emily asked happily, as she moved around the seat and sat on Hotch's knee, leaning back against his shoulder and staring at the screen.

"Yup." Hotch clarified, as he scrolled back to the top of the page he's been reading to allow Emily to read is as well. "It looks pretty straight forward... if we get accepted that is." He told her. "There's a few courses that are compulsory for us to complete, and after that a social worker comes around to the house and sort of quizzes us."

"Oh." Emily replied quietly as she continued to read down through the page of papers they needed to have, and different courses they needed to complete.

"Yea, the course's should only take us about two weeks because they're only a day long each, and after that the social worker comes over fairly soon... then if we get the all clear, we go on the waiting list." Hotch elaborated, kissing Emily's shoulder when he finished talking.

"This is so weird." Emily sighed, as she stared at the screen, which had a promotional picture of a happy family in the right hand corner. "In a few months we could be them." She sighed happily, still staring at the family.

"Damn right we could." Hotch agreed. "Me, you, Jack, and our new son or daughter." He grinned, picturing them as the happy family.

"What if we don't though." Emily whispered after a moment. "What if we don't get on the list?" She clarified, sounding confused more than upset about this prospect, probably because she hadn't thought of the possibility of not getting a child before now.

"Emily, you are the smartest, funniest, most caring woman I've ever met, any child would be lucky to have you as a mother, and the social worker will have to see that." Hotch told her firmly. "They'll have to see, that no one could show a kid more love than we will, than our family will." He added.

"Ya think so?" Emily asked with a sigh.

"I know so." Hotch replied quietly, kissing the top of her head again after he spoke.

"I can't wait." Emily whispered, as she looked again at the picture.

"Neither can I." Hotch agreed with a chuckle, as he stood from the chair, taking Emily with him in his arms. "Now if I remember correctly, you wanted to have some fun this morning?" Hotch reminded her with a suggestive smile.

"Ah yes." Emily replied with a sultry look as she wrapped her arms around Hotch's neck. "I do remember saying something along those lines." She grinned.  
_

There we go. That was only a short chapter but the next one will be longer. So please tell me what you thought and thank you for reading and reviewing! =)


	40. Telling Jack

Kay so in this chapter Emily and Hotch takes Jack to the zoo and talk to him about the idea of adopting.

It's the same day as the last chapter.  
_

"You know we really should get up now." Emily mumbled into the crook between Hotch's shoulder and neck, as they lay in bed an hour later, wrapped up in one another's arms.

"Oh, to we have to? I like it here." Hotch moaned, as he planted soft kisses along Emily's shoulder blade.

"Yea we do actually." Emily chuckled, as she kissed Hotch's chest. "We promised Jack we'd bring him to the zoo." She reminded him, as she rose slowly, bringing her half of the sheets with her.

"You drive a hard bargain woman..." Hotch sighed, as he too sat up in the bed, pulling some of the blankets with him, as he scanned the room for his clothes from earlier that morning.

"Yea, but you love me anyway." Emily reminded him, as she threw on one of his old shirts that had been lying in the laundry basket. "Now hurry up and get dressed before a certain four year old whirlwind comes in to inform us he's ready to see the monkeys." She added, as she heard bed boards creaking in Jacks room, informing her that the four year old had woken up.

"Yup, I'm pretty sure we've got another thirty seconds to make ourselves presentable." Hotch joked as he heard the sound of tiny feet on Jacks bedroom floor, as he pulled on a pair of sweat pants and began his search for a t-shirt.

Less than thirty seconds later the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway towards their bedroom, and within seconds Jack came running into the room, leaping into Hotch's outstretched arms, as Hotch stood beside the bed, having just pulled on a t-shirt.

"Daddy, Emmy, we going to the zoo today!" Jack squealed, as Hotch carried him towards the bed and placed him in the middle, between Emily, who was brushing out her bed hair, and Hotch, who sat down on Jacks left.

"That's right munchkin, you looking forward to it?" Emily asked, as she leant over and gave the young boy a kiss on his forehead.

"I wanna see the monkeys!" Was all Jack told her in response, as a look of pure glee crossed his face just at the thought.

"Ok buddy, come on and we can have breakfast before we go." Hotch laughed, as he watched his son bounce around on the bed in excitement.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Emmy look, Emmy look, Emmy look!" Jack squealed, as he sat on top of Hotch's shoulders, looking down at Emily beside him, and pointing in at the monkeys. "That one just waved at me!" He informed her in excitement.

"Yea they did munchkin." Emily replied with a laugh. "Looks like you have a new friend." She added, watching Jack as he smiled happily at the prospect of a monkey friend.

"Daddy, I've a monkey friend!" Jack giggled happily.

"Your son is so cute." An elderly woman to Emily's right whispered, as she looked up at Jack, who was going through names with his father, deciding what he should call his new friend.

"Thank you." Emily replied, blushing, and smiling happily to herself at the fact that the woman had presumed she was Jacks mother.

"Emmy." Jack then called, pulling Emily out of her thoughts, and the conversation with the woman.

"Yes Jacko?" Emily asked, looking up at the small boy and smiling happily.

"Daddy said we're going to get lunch, and then we can go to the gift shop!" Jack informed Emily happily.

"Oh right, well lets go then." Emily replied, as she began to walk with the two, towards the cafe, grasping Hotch's hand as they fell into pace.

"You know I heard what that woman said to you." Hotch informed Emily out of the corner of his mouth as they walked.

"Oh... and?" Emily asked cautiously, hoping she hadn't overstepped the mark by not correcting the woman, because despite the fact that she felt like Jack's mother, Hotch may not see her as that.

"I think there was no need for you to blush... as far as Jack and I are concerned, you're a second mother to him, and that's all we could ask for." Hotch replied, giving her hand a brief squeeze as he spoke.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Today was the best ever!" Jack told Emily and Hotch happily, as they swung him between their arms, as they walked up to the apartment later that evening, Emily holding Jacks new monkey teddy, and Hotch rummaging in his pocket for keys.

"I have to agree with you there munchkin, today was pretty fun." Emily laughed, as she stopped at the door and allowed Hotch to open it.

"Can we watch a DVD now?" Jack asked excitedly the second they got in the door.

"Sure buddy, in a minute... first there's something me and Emily want to talk to you about." Hotch told his son, as he glanced briefly at Emily, both of them looking nervous.

"Sure, but make it quick... I wanna watch a DVD." Jack replied seriously, causing the two adults to laugh at his demands.

"Well ok then." Hotch replied with a grin, as he sat down beside Emily on the couch and allowed Jack to climb up between them. "How would you feel about having a little brother or sister?" He asked, looking at Jack intently to gauge his reaction.

"Why?" Jack asked slowly. "Is there a baby growing in Emmy, just like there was in Aunt JJ?" The young boy asked, looking at Emily's stomach like there was suddenly an alien growing in it.

"Well no, not exactly." Hotch replied, before pausing, not quite knowing how to explain the adoption process to a four year old.

"Well you see Jack." Emily took over, seeing Hotch's hesitant look. "Sometimes, some people aren't able to grow babies in their belly, so instead they get them from other people who are able to grow babies, but want to give them away instead of keeping them." She informed Jack as simply as possible.

"So... does that mean you get to pick what kind of a baby you get?" Jack asked, understanding what Emily had said somewhat.

"Well yea you do... sort of." Hotch replied. "So what do you think?" He asked hopefully.

"I want a sister." Jack responded. "Henry's already like my brother, so I want a sister." He informed them.

"Does this mean you're ok with it?" Hotch asked his son, a smile growing on his face.

"Yup... I always wanted a sister, and me and Henry need another person to play tag, or it's boring." Jack informed the two adults with a frown.

"Well in that case we'll do the best we can to get you a sister." Emily replied, bending down to give Jack a kiss on the forehead.

"Yay!" Jack called happily at the news. "Now can we watch a DVD?" He asked then.

"Sure thing buddy." Hotch replied with a smile, happy that his son wasn't against the idea. "Which one do you want to watch?" He asked.

"Space Chimps!" Jack shouted, running over to the DVD case to fish out his requested DVD.

"Really Aaron... how many years have you been a profiler and you still didn't guess that?" Emily questioned playfully as she snuggled closer to his side. "You're not as quick to pick up on things in your old age." She teased.

"Normally I'd have a witty comeback for that remark... but I must admit that one was pretty obvious." Hotch admitted, as he kissed the top of Emily's head softly, as he let Jack jump into his lap and press play on the DVD.  
_

There we go. Another chapter done. Hope you like it, and please tell me what you thought of the chapter. Thanks for reading. =)


	41. Telling the Girls

Ok so it's a girls night out, and the girls talk about Emily and Hotch's decision to adopt and what effect it will have.

It's still March 2010, and its two weeks after Hotch and Emily talk about the adoption.  
_

"Emily come on, we're leaving!" Garcia called, as she leant against Emily's desk and watched as the confused dark haired woman made her way back from her short bathroom break.

"Wha- Pen I can't, I've still got a mountain of case files to get through." Emily replied, motioning with a sigh to her desk, which had open case files and reports spilling over the edge.

"Well slip a few to genius boy; I'm sure he'll find them fun." Garcia replied, as if her plan was the most obvious one in the world.

"You know I'm right here." Reid spoke up, staring at Garcia in shock.

"We know you are honey, and that's why we love you." Garcia responded, patting the young genius on the cheek and giving him a wide smile that showed off her pearly white teeth, which looked even whiter in contrast to her ruby red lipstick. "Now Em, slip wonder boy some files and meet me at the door in five minutes, I'm off to get our faithful media liaison out of her dungeon."

"Sorry Reid, looks like none of us have any choice in this matter." Emily sighed, as she picked up the biggest bundle of files and walked around to drop them on Reid's desk. "Just fill them out and I'll sign my name on them tomorrow." She added with a smile.

"Sure, whatever." Reid mumbled, glaring at the mountain of case files that had just been thrown on his previously neat, and relatively small, stack of paper work.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Well Garcia, what have you dragged us out here for?" JJ asked, once the three women had met in the Quantico car park.

Before Garcia had a chance to reply to JJ's question however, a distraught looking Austin ran to them from the car park, stopping a moment to catch her breath before talking.

"Wh-what's the emergency?" She panted, looking up at the three women in a panic. "Is Spencer ok?" She gasped, looking between the three women, two of whom looked completely and utterly lost as to what was going on.

"Yes, yes, wonder boy is fine, he's in finishing Emily's work." Garcia replied, as she was the only one who looked like what was going on made any sense.

"So... so why am I here?" Austin asked then, straightening up and looking at Garcia, her confused face matching the faces of JJ and Emily exactly.

"Well my pretties, I was sitting in my den today, when an unbelievably shocking realisation hit me." Garcia started dramatically.

"Is this going anywhere?" Emily asked her friend with a sigh, the crisp March breeze not being the best place to have to hear one of Garcia's dramatic rants.

"Em, what have I told you about ruining my dramatic telling?" Garcia snapped, causing JJ and Austin to chuckle. "Anyway... as I was saying, I was shocked to realise, that the BAU girls club haven't been on a proper girls night since before Henry was born... and that my friends was a year and a half ago." She informed her friends, waiting for their shocked responses.

"Yea, but we go to each other's house's every week, and we always go out with the team for drinks at least once a month, not to mention the meals we go to for anyone's birthday and stuff." JJ reminded her friend, defending the fact that it was her pregnancy that caused them to become social hermits.

"Jayje, you're totally missing the point here." Garcia snapped at her friend, annoyed that she hadn't gotten the shocked responses she'd wanted.

"What exactly is the point?" Austin asked cautiously.

"The point my fine furry friend, is that we haven't gone out and gotten so completely wasted that we end up singing some terrible karaoke at three in the morning since before dear old Jayje got knocked up by her strapping fiancé Will." Garcia informed her friend with a smile at their last Karaoke session.

"Wow, you sure do have a way with words there Garcia." JJ told her friend dryly, not liking the fact that her pregnancy had just been referred to as being 'knocked up'.

"Why thank you sugar." Garcia replied with a wink. "Now let's hit the road... we've got a year and a half of drinking to catch up on." She added with a wide smile, heading towards Esther, and throwing her bag into the back seat.

"Ok, I'm in, but I can't really drink too much tonight." Emily informed her friends.

"Why?" JJ asked as she headed for Garcia's car as well, knowing it was best to only take one car. "Oh my god, Em, you're not pregnant are you?" She asked suddenly, jumping to conclusions about the reasons for Emily of all people to volunteer as the designated driver for the night.

"No!" Emily replied quickly. "I've just got a meeting tomorrow." She sighed.

"Oh... I didn't see anything on my desk?" JJ questioned, knowing that most, if not all BAU meetings went through her.

"It's after work." Emily clarified. "I'll tell you when we get to the bar." She added, seeing the interested looks on her friend's faces.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Well chica?" Garcia asked Emily, the second their asses had hit the seats in the bar, and JJ had carried over cocktails for them all. "What is this meeting tomorrow after work?" She questioned, taking a sip of her cocktail as she studied Emily's face.

"Wow, you don't beat around the bush do you PG." Emily laughed at her friends immediate questioning.

"Not in my nature sweat pea... now spill." Garcia ordered her with a wink.

"Ok..." Emily started slowly, knowing that Hotch wouldn't mind her telling the team. "You know how myself and Aaron have been going out for a year and five months?" She questioned them, doing a quick calculation in her head to make sure her relationship timeline was right.

"If you say so." JJ replied, not being one hundred per cent sure how long her two friends had been an item. "All I know is you got engaged three months ago, and moved in together five months ago." She added, deciding to put forward the facts she did know about her friend's relationship.

"Yea... well, um, we've decided to, uh... have a kid." Emily told her friends slowly.

This news was immediately followed by squeals and screams from her three best friends all jumped up and gave her a hug, earning a few odd stares from the other patrons of the bar in the process.

"Wait..." Austin said hesitantly once she'd sat down again. "This doesn't explain the meeting?" She informed Emily.

"Yea, well... um, I'm probably not able to have kids." Emily informed her friends, looking away as she spoke, because even though they didn't know the reason she couldn't have children, she couldn't help but feel like they were judging her. "So we've decided to adopt, and uh... the social worker is coming around tomorrow evening."

"Oh..." Her three friends responded in tandem... not sure how to react to the news that Emily may never have a child of her own, something they all knew she'd wanted for a long time.

"Well hey, wonder woman, I'm sure you'll rock the socks off that social worker and blow her mind in the process." Garcia chirped up happily after a moment, not being used to having an awkward silence between her and her friends.

"Thanks PG... I really hope you're right." Emily replied with a smile at her friend, as she took a drink of her cocktail, agreeing to have some drink, as she knew she could do with it before her meeting with the social worker tomorrow.

"Of course she's right." JJ spoke up. "And we're all going ot give you and Hotch glowing references if anyone asks so don't worry." She added, giving her friend another hug.

"Yea, not to mention I can get Spencer to give you every statistic and random fact you'll ever need to know, and more, on adopting." Austin added with a laugh, her comment causing the other three women to chuckle as well.

"Well thanks." Emily told her friends truthfully. "You have no idea how much all that means to me." She added with a smile.

"Yea, well you're there for us no matter what... I guess we're just returning the favour." Garcia informed her friend. "So how about you leave your thanking for later, and help us clean out this bar's stock tonight."

"I guess that sounds like an ok plan." Emily laughed, as she took another sip of her drink.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Once the serious talk was over with, the girls got down to business, and by half one all of them, Emily included, had succeeded in clearing out the bar, and were now each taking it in turn to prove this, by getting up and giving it their all in the karaoke contest.

First up was Austin, with her slightly pitchy rendition of "I'm Holding Out For A Hero", claiming she could practically sing this in her sleep due to the amount of people who'd sung this song at the bar she'd worked in, in Atlanta.

After her it was Emily's turn, and her song of choice was "Let Me Entertain You"... or that's what the bar patrons guessed it was, her singing talent, or lack of, meaning that all anyone could do was guess what the song that was being murdered was called.

After Emily got a polite clap off stage, and a not so polite round of boos from Garcia, JJ and Austin, it was JJ's turn to have a go, and she belted out "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves" in perfect tune, earning her the loudest cheer of the night, and even a standing ovation.

"Hidden talent much!" Emily laughed when JJ skipped of the stage, bowing and waving at the other patrons clapping.

"I had to pay my way through college somehow, singing just seemed easy at the time." JJ replied with a shrug of her shoulder.

"Ha, you think that was good... wait until you see this." Garcia giggled as she stood up boldly and made her way to the stage.

Garcia ran onto the stage then and after telling the MC what she wanted to sing she took centre stage, waiting until the familiar beat started before she began to serenade the crowd with her rendition of "Like A Virgin" complete with her own dance steps, involving hip thrusting, that caused the crowd to go wild, and left Emily, JJ and Austin in stitches at the table.

"Well I have to say." JJ giggled, when Garcia finally made her way off stage. "You most certainly did outdo me there." She told her friend, looking around her, to where the entire bar were on their feet shouting for an encore.

"Why would you ever have doubted that." Garcia laughed, as she sat back down and accepted her drink from Emily.

At this all four woman burst into fits of giggles, each of them knowing that they had to do this again soon.  
_

There we go. I just thought I'd add in that karaoke scene at the end to add some fun to the story. So tell me what you thought and thanks for reading.


	42. A Social Visit

Ok so it's time for a visit from the social worker now, and we'll find out if Emily and Hotch can adopt or not.  
_

"Come in." Hotch called, not looking up from the case file he was looking over, when he heard the soft knocking on his office door.

"What are you doing?" Came Emily's disgruntled voice once the door opened, as she stared at Hotch who was bent double over a file.

"Uh... working." Hotch replied in shock, not quite knowing what he'd done to deserve the angry tone that was in Emily's voice.

"Yea, I see that darling, what I mean is why the hell are you working when we have a meeting with the social worker in half an hour?" Emily clarified, sounding more and more panicked by the second.

Hotch's hand froze half way's through writing his signature on the page, and he lifted his head slowly to look his fiancée in the eye, which were now glaring at him in a death stare to rival his own.

"I'm coming now dear." He replied quickly, as he jumped up from his chair and began throwing various files into his briefcase in a panic.

"Wow, wow, wow." Emily called out suddenly, holding out her hands and stopping Hotch in his tracks as he tried to get past her to a folder that was lying on one of the guest chairs. "What are you doing now?" She questioned.

"Uh... getting files to take home." Hotch replied uncertainly, stopping suddenly in his tracks so as not to collide with Emily's outstretched hands.

"Right, well that much I can tell... but we're trying to get this social worker to give us a good report, and somehow I don't think leaving murder files lying around is the best way to go about that." Emily informed Hotch, as she began taking files out of his bag.

Hotch sighed, and simply watched as Emily emptied his briefcase and then stood in front of him with a smile on her face.

"I guess we're ready to go now then." Hotch said with another sigh.

"You guess right my dear." Emily laughed, as she linked her hand with his and walked out of his office and into the empty bullpen.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Ok uh, is the kitchen tidy?" Emily asked Hotch, slightly out of breath, as she ran into the living room from their bedroom, tying her hair into a ponytail as she moved.

"Yes." Hotch replied with a sigh, this being the third time he'd answered that question since they'd gotten home.

"And what about the sitting room, how does it look?" Emily asked, as she stopped in front of the hall mirror and put in a pair of earrings.

"It looks the same as it did five minutes ago... fine." Hotch replied, shaking his head at Emily's nerves.

"And what about the..." Emily started again, but this time Hotch beat her to it.

"Yes Emily, it's fine, everything is fine except you... because you, are about to have a nervous breakdown." He informed Emily with an amused smile playing on his lips. "Now come here and sit with me until the social worker comes." He added, knowing that the door bell would probably be ringing any minute now.

"Ok... ok." Emily replied, taking a deep breath as she walked into the living room, surveying the room herself quickly, just to make sure Hotch wasn't lying to her. "Right... how do I look?" She asked, subconsciously running her hands down her sides to smoothen out her top.

"Like you're way too dressed up." Hotch replied, looking over Emily's skin tight jeans black and plain white shirt, like the ones she wore to work, with matching diamond earrings and chain.

"Is it too much... do you think I'll give the wrong impression?" Emily asked quickly, again getting into a panic.

"No, no, it's fine." Hotch answered quickly, not wanting his fiancée to have a nervous breakdown now. "Maybe just lose the jewellery though." He added hesitantly, noting how the diamonds were a bit of over kill.

"Right... ok." Emily replied, taking off the jewellery quickly and running back down to the room to put it back in her jewellery box, returning within seconds.

"Wow that's like world record speed." Hotch joked, when Emily sat down by his side.

"Yea well I'm fast when I'm nervous." Emily replied breathily, as she rung her hands in anticipation.

Hotch was about to make a witty remark regarding Emily's last comment, but was cut off by the door bell ringing and Emily jumping up so fast she almost elbowed him in the mouth.

"It's her... she's here!" Emily hissed excitedly, alerting Hotch to the blatantly obvious.

"Really... I'd never have guessed." Hotch replied sarcastically, as he stood and walked with Emily over to the door.

Emily shot him a brief glare, before regaining a polite smile, probably taught to her by her mother, and waited for Hotch to come to her side, before she opened the door.

"Hi, Ms Prentiss, Mr Hotchner." A friendly looking, slightly plump, middle aged woman greeted, as she stood in the doorway, her light brown hair, with speckles of grey, tied up in a loose bun. "I'm Amanda Lyons; I'm here from social services to talk to you." She informed them, as she reached out her hand and gave both Emily and Hotch a firm handshake.

"Hi." Emily greeted enthusiastically. "Come right in, uh, just through to the living room and we can talk there." She added, showing Amanda through and motioning for her to sit on one of the seats.

"Would you like tea, coffee, maybe a glass of water." Hotch questioned, as Emily sat on the couch across from Amanda and he remained standing.

"No it's all right." Amanda replied politely, watching as Hotch sat down beside Emily then and they loosely linked their fingers down by their side.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Amanda asked after a brief pause, taking out her clip board, signalling that this had just become serious.

"Just under a year and a half." Hotch replied without even having to think.

"And how long have you known each other before that... if at all that is." Amanda asked after taking a few short notes.

"Well we've worked together for four years but we've known each other for ... twenty years." Emily told her, pausing briefly to remember when they'd met. "Aaron worked for my mother for a while." She added, not wanting to tell the person who decided if they got a kid or not that they met when she worked in a burlesque club.

"Oh, so your mother is a..." Amanda prompted, looking interested as she took more notes.

"She's an Ambassador, Aaron worked her security for a while, and my father is a doctor." Emily informed her.

"Ah, so interesting childhood." Amanda said, the sentence being more of a statement than a question.

"Well there was never a dull moment." Emily replied with a small, almost nervous laugh.

"Any other children?" Amanda asked then, changing the topic quickly.

"Uh, I have a four year old son from my first marriage." Hotch replied. "His names Jack." He added.

"Does Jack live with his mother?" Amanda asked, looking around briefly and seeing no sign of a four year old that she may have missed up until now.

"No he lives here with us, he's just out for the day with his Aunt's Penelope and JJ... they agreed to take him out for a while when you were here so we could talk." Hotch informed her.

"Oh, what happened to his mother?" Amanda asked, not knowing the severity of this question.

Emily and Hotch shared a brief glance, that wasn't missed by Amanda, before Hotch continued.

"She's um... she's uh dead." Hotch replied with an edge of un-comfort in his voice.

"Do you mind if I ask how she died?" Amanda asked then, ignoring Emily who was silently trying to signalling for her not to go there.

"She was... murdered... four months ago." Hotch explained slowly, looking down at his lap as Emily reached her other hand over and squeezed his thigh.

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that." Amanda replied sincerely.

"It's fine." Emily spoke up when Hotch didn't. "He and Jack both have an amazing support network and we're all dealing with it." She added.

"Uh huh, so what is it the two of you do?" Amanda asked after a pause, once Hotch was fully composed, flipping a page quickly.

"Well..." Emily started, looking at Hotch before she continued, knowing that their jobs may not be that great a situation. "Um, we work in the FBI... in the Behavioural Analyst Unit." She informed her then.

"Oh, not the safest job." Amanda noted. "Not a very family friendly environment or work place for a child." She added.

"Actually." Emily started, refusing to let her dreams be crushed because of her job. "Like I said before, I travelled a lot when I was a kid, and we never stayed anywhere for long... I lived in eight countries growing up, and I never felt like I belonged, I never felt like I had a family... until I joined the BAU." She informed Amanda. "Not only did I meet the love of my life there, but I met the two most wonderful woman in the world, that are like my sisters, and he two most amazing men in the world, who are like my brothers, not to mention David Rossi, who is the first real father figure I've had in my life, and I agree, we're not the most conventional family in the world, but we all love each other, and believe me when I say the child will never meet a group so loving, and protective in his or her life." She concluded.

"I see." Amanda replied professionally, not letting an emotion away as she wrote some more in her clip board.

"We want this Ms Lyons, we want this more than anything in the world." Emily added in a whisper, looking deep into Amanda's eyes, as if daring her to say no.

"I can see that Ms Prentiss, believe me I can." Amanda answered with a sympathetic smile. "And believe me when I say I've been in this job for fifteen years, and never have I seen a couple so honest and sweet, or ones with better references might I add." She told them, her smile growing.

"References?" Hotch questioned, unaware that they needed them.

"Yes, we got some personal information and asked your friends to tell us a bit more about you... we only needed two, but Agent Jareau, Agent Garcia, Agent Morgan, Dr Reid and Agent Rossi all insisted on talking about you, and I must say, you two seem like very loyal, caring people." She informed a now smiling Emily and Hotch.

"Well they're very dear friends of ours, and our team is a family... so they know how much we've wanted this." Emily replied humbly, mentally thinking of a gift to get each member of the team as a thank you.

"Well then... on that note there are no other questions." Amanda replied after a moment, with a friendly smile, as she rose to her feet. "You should be told within a day or so whether or not you've been put on the waiting list... though I promise you, after this review, I'll do everything I can to get you on it." She added.

"Thank you, thank you so much." Emily replied, feeling emotion rise in her at the thought that this was actually happening.

"You have no idea how much this means to us." Hotch added, as he lead Amanda to the door, holding it open for her to leave.

"Oh I think I do." Amanda replied with a small smile, as she stood in the doorway. "Hopefully next time I'll be seeing you is with your new baby in your arms." She added, shaking both Hotch and Emily's hands.

"Hopefully." Emily and Hotch both repeated in tandem, matching smiles spreading on their faces at the thought.

With that Amanda gave them another brief and polite smile, before turning on her heel and walking down the hallway leading away from the apartment, leaving Hotch and Emily still standing in the doorway smiling.

"This is really happening isn't it?" Emily asked breathily, as she looked up at Hotch, a look not unlike shock in her eye.

"It really is." Hotch replied with a grin, looking down at her lovingly. "It really is..."  
_

There we go, Hotch and Emily are getting a baby... though some more stuff has to happen first, and not all of it is good. Please tell me what you thought, and thank you as always for reading.


	43. The Two Micks

Ok, so this is set after the episode "The Fight" and Emily was flirting a lot with Mick... so it's time to see how that went down with Hotch.

It's April 2010, Emily is 39 and Hotch is 44.  
_

"What is wrong with you?" Emily snapped the second she walked through the front door, Hotch not far behind her, at two in the evening, having just returned from the case they'd worked with the other team.

"Can we just drop this please... one of us has to pick up Jack soon." Hotch huffed, as he threw down his and Emily's go-bags in the corner, not making eye contact with Emily as he spoke.

"No Aaron, I won't just drop it, Jack doesn't have to be collected for another half hour, and we are going to talk about this... you've been giving me the cold shoulder since we left on that case." Emily fumed, the previous three days of frustration finally boiling over.

"No Emily, I've been giving you the cold shoulder since you started flirting with the British field agent we were working with." Hotch finally opened up sourly.

Flirting... with Mick?" Emily laughed. "Are you serious right now?" She questioned in dismay, when she realised that the look on his face meant he didn't see this as a joke.

"Like a heart attack Emily, you flirted with him from the second the plane hit the ground in San Francisco." Hotch informed her bitterly.

"That was not flirting... we just got along well." Emily informed him. "I talked to him the exact same way I talk to Morgan and you don't get jealous about that." She pointed out.

"Yea, the difference being that Morgan isn't an arrogant, sexed up, egotistical, British agent, and he also knows that we're dating unlike Mick." Hotch reminded Emily.

"Derek Morgan is the most sexed up man I know." Emily replied, snorting with laughter despite how angry she still was. "He's also got one of the biggest ego's I've ever come across, and you know that just as well as I do." She added finally sobering up from her laughing fit and putting her serious face back on. "So if you want to pick this fight with me... get yourself a better argument." She snapped, before turning on her heel and heading to the door.

"Where are you going." Hotch called after her, one what she'd said had sunk in.

"To pick up Jack, then I'm taking him to the park... once you've calmed down you can meet us there." Emily called back in response, before closing the door behind her with a loud snap.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Emmy, I wana go on the swings, and the slide, and the roundabout!" Jack listed off to Emily quickly, as he half dragged her into the local park across from the school.

"Well how about you go on one at a time, we can stay for a while so you can take your time." Emily laughed, as she let go of Jack's hand.

"Really... cool!" Jack exclaimed, his young voice brimming with excitement, as he immediately ran over to the slide, and stood beside a child he seemed to know, from the way they immediately started talking.

Emily laughed to herself at Jacks excitement, and made her way to one of the benches which had the best view of the entire playground, never taking her eyes off Jack as she went.

"Well hello there Ms Prentiss... or are you married yet?" A voice suddenly greeted from behind her, causing Emily to jump slightly, before she managed to match the voice to a face from her memory.

"No Mick, I'm not married just yet, though I am getting there, so let's do everyone a favour and back off." Emily sighed, not taking her eyes off Jack, who was now racing the same boy he'd been talking to earlier over to the swings.

"Spoil sport." Mick replied teasingly, sliding in beside Emily on the bench and leaning back, his arms resting on the table.

"Do you really have to talk to me?" Emily questioned. "Isn't there bound to be some single women in here to flirt with?" She asked in exasperation.

"None that are as pretty as you." Mick flirted.

"Don't even start." Emily hissed, moving further away from Mick as she spoke. "Why are you here anyway?" She sighed after a moment.

"I've got my son for the day." Mick replied with a cocky smile.

"Oh, and this parks not big enough for you to keep an eye on him from the other side of it?" Emily asked.

"Not when his best friends mommy is on this side of the park." Mick laughed victoriously, pointing to his son and Jack, who were jumping off the swings.

"So really you're using your son to pick up women." Emily summarised in dismay.

"Only if it's working." Mick replied with a sly smirk.

"It's not... you actually remind me of a guy I knew." Emily replied, still refusing to look at Mick even though she could feel him inching closer.

"Oh, well if I remind you of a man it can't be all bad." Mick pointed out.

"Actually it can be all that bad... the guy's name was Joe Smith and he was a serial killer in Milwaukee a few years ago... he used his son to lure his female victims." Emily replied bluntly, looking up at Mick for the first time and smirking when she noted the look of shock on his face.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Hotch sighed as he pulled his car into one of the few free parking spaces at the play ground beside Jack's school and stepped out, bringing a small bunch of flowers with him as a way of apologising to Emily.

She had been right, it had been rather childish of him to accuse her of flirting with Mick on the case... not only was she one of the most professional agents he knew, but he also knew that she loved him, and the more he looked at it, the more he realised that he may have overreacted.

He immediately spotted Jack, playing on the swings with a child who seemed vaguely familiar, and who Hotch presumed was a friend of Jack's from school.

It took Hotch a while longer to spot Emily though, and when he did he felt his, still not fully calm, blood pressure shoot back up through the roof, as he saw her sitting on a bench with none other than Mick Cunningham, a smile playing on Emily's lips as Mick sat with his back turned to Hotch.

"Emily." Hotch called, keeping his voice as even as he could, as Emily and Mick both looked at him for the first time, Mick smiling widely and Emily looking shocked at first, before plastering a smile of her own on her face.

"Daddy!" Jack called, running across the playground and into his father's out stretched arms before Hotch had a chance to say anything else.

"Hey." Emily greeted quietly, having gotten away from Mick as fast as possible once Hotch arrived. "I'm glad you came." She added softly, gently placing a hand on Hotch's arm, as she ran her other one through Jack's hair.

"Yea... I think I want to leave now though." Hotch replied, looking over Emily's shoulder, to where Mick was helping his son take his jacket off, still smirking in their direction.

"Oh... ok then." Emily agreed, deciding not to question her fiancés motive, when she could tell he was still not in the best of moods after earlier.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The car ride back was, to say the least, an extremely tense journey, and the atmosphere didn't lighten much once they were back home either, Jack being the only real source of noise throughout the evening.

It was after the young boy had gone to bed that Emily decided to tackle the issue, waiting until Hotch re-entered the living room, after kissing Jack goodnight, to speak.

"Have I done anything... anything to annoy you recently?" She questioned slowly, as Hotch sat on one of the seats across from her.

"No, it's actually me that's annoyed you." Hotch replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice that confused and shocked Emily a little.

"Excuse me?" Emily replied, now being more confused that earlier.

"Well I'm not called Mick... so that must annoy you, especially seeing as it's only people with that name you seem to want to flirt with." He informed her calmly, his tone never breaking its even level, even though there was anger in his eyes.

"Wait... what?" Emily asked in shock, feeling like she'd just been winded.

"Oh please, don't act innocent." Hotch finally raged, his anger being mixed with his rare yet overpowering jealousy. "First you can't get enough of Rawson on the case, and then you're all over Mick Cunningham, who may I remind you is your ex, when you're in the park looking after my son." Hotch fumed, obviously not filtering his words as he spoke.

"My son." Emily repeated quietly, almost as if that was the only part of Hotch's rant she'd heard.

"No Em I didn't..." Hotch suddenly tried to back pedal, realising the phenomenal error he'd just made.

"Oh no, don't raise your voice Aaron, you may wake your son." Emily hissed. "I'll admit, I flirted with Mick Rawson on the case... friendly flirting, but hey if you're enough of a Neanderthal to become jealous over it, so be it... and sure me and Mick talked when we were in the park, but only because you were here sulking." She reminded him, a fire burning in her eyes. "But don't ever say that."

"Emily I swear it was a mistake I..." Hotch cut in quickly.

"I wasn't finished." Emily snapped, raising a hand to silence him. "I may not be Jack's mother, and I know I never will be, because like it or not Hotch, Haley is dead... but to me that little boy is my son, because I love him, and I always will, no matter what, so just because I talk to men outside this team, does not give you the right to hurt me like that." She told him, clenching her fist at her side and trying to hold back tears.

"Emily, I know Haley is dead." Hotch hissed, hurt flashing in his eyes at the memory. "But you know I didn't mean it... I love you, and Jack loves you, and it was a mistake and I'm sorry!" Hotch exclaimed as he tried to pull her closer.

"I think... I uh, think I need to be alone right now." Emily whispered, pulling away from Hotch's attempt at an embrace, and turning on her heel to head towards the door.

"Are you coming back?" Hotch called after her, as she undid the lock.

"I'd never leave," Emily started, waiting until the door was open to turn and face him. "I just don't know if I'm going to come back for you or Jack." She added sadly, before turning once more and walking away.  
_

There, that took me ages to write. Believe it or not I've had this planned since I introduced Mick in chapter 4, so it wasn't that hard to write, I just wanted to know what happens next before I started, so that's what took a while to figure out. Anyway, thanks for reading and do tell me your thoughts.


	44. Scared

So this is the next chapter... after Hotch and Emily's fight... will anything be resolved?

It's the same night as the last chapter.  
_

"Emily?" JJ questioned, staring blankly at her friend, who was standing on her porch at half eleven at night, looking like she'd been through hell.

"I need a place to stay tonight." Emily sighed as means of an explanation, feeling tears jump up in her eyes as her voice cracked slightly, under the strain of the entire evening.

"What happened?" JJ questioned in shock, immediately leaping aside to let her friend past, the two women walking into the living room and sitting on the couches, before Emily continued.

"We had a fight... a big fight." Emily told her friend sadly. "I walked out... and I'm afraid... I'm afraid it's over." She sobbed.

"Emily, myself and Will fight all the time." JJ laughed, hugging her friend slightly. "It's nothing to worry too much about." She added when she seen that this didn't comfort Emily much.

"She's right Cher, Jen and I love to fight." Will shouted in clarification from the kitchen, causing Emily to laugh weakly.

"Exactly... fighting is exceedingly normal in a relationship, hell it's the healthiest part of a relationship... or one of them anyway." JJ laughed. "If you didn't fight you'd end up having a psychotic break from all the cheeriness." She added jokingly.

"We've a very healthy relationship then." Will called again, as he walked past the living room door, a bottle in his hand for Henry, and a cheeky grin on his face.

"If you don't keep walking you'll get a very unhealthy smack." JJ warned, giving Will a sweet smile and sticking out her tongue at him before he walked away. "See Em, fighting is normal." She added happily.

"Yea but this was a big fight Jayje." Emily informed her, looking scared at the memory. "He was upset because I was flirting with Mick on the case, and then I was talking to my ex in the park when I picked Jack up, and then we fought." She whispered.

"Ah... the jealousy fight." JJ sighed with a wise nod. "I'm surprised you lasted this long without having it... Will and I had ours about five months after we started dating... and then again on that case in Florida... he thought I cared more about the team than him." She filled her friend in.

"Yea, but this was bigger than that fight... we... he threw the fact that Jack wasn't my son in my face and I threw the fact that Haley was dead in his." Emily sighed, burying her face in her hands in shame.

"Oh..." Was all JJ could think of to say then, as she looked at her distraught friend.

"Exactly!" Emily exclaimed. "What if I really messed up this time? What if we've both really messed up? We're meant to be getting a baby we were so happy JJ... what if it's over?" She panicked silent tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

"Emily, honey calm down." JJ called softly, wrapping her arms around Emily to sooth her. "Don't you worry... I'll personally kill Aaron Hotchner if he hurts you... and he knows that." She added seriously.

"Don't be dramatic." Emily laughed weakly, a small smile spreading on her face at the gesture.

"I'm not Emily, I'm being deadly serious... after you moved in we all told him that if he hurt you we'd hurt him ten times more, and I for one wasn't messing." JJ informed her friend, not the slightest sign of humour in her tone. "We protect our family Em, even if it's from each other." She added.

"I don't want you to hurt him though." Emily replied hastily.

"So you still love him then?" JJ questioned.

"Of course I do." Emily responded right away. "I've loved him for almost twenty years." She sighed.

"Ok... now, does he still love you?" JJ questioned softly.

"After what I said... I don't know." Emily admitted sadly.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Hello?" Rossi answered into the mouth piece of his home phone, as he lay relaxing on his sofa, a scotch in one hand, and a book in the other.

"Dave its Aaron." Hotch replied with a heavy hearted sigh.

"And with a sigh like that we've either got a case or you and Emily are fighting... and you wouldn't address yourself by your first name if you were calling about work... so spill." Rossi replied, his brain automatically assessing the situation.

"Top marks for Agent Rossi." Hotch sighed bitterly, as he poured himself a large scotch and sat down.

"Tell me what happened and stop being so dramatic." Rossi sighed, placing down the book he was just about to read, knowing that he wouldn't get a chance to start it tonight.

"I was jealous because she was flirting with Rawson on the case and she was talking to her ex in the park afterwards because his son is friends with Jack but things got out of hand... we both said some things we shouldn't have, and it got pretty nasty.

"I see..." Rossi stated calmly. "How nasty?" He questioned.

"She brought up Haley's death... and I brought up the fact that she isn't actually Jack's mother." Hotch admitted shamefully.

"Well what the hell did you do that for?" Rossi exclaimed.

"I was angry, she was angry... I don't know." Hotch defended lamely, almost feeling Rossi's anger radiate through the phone.

"Aaron, we all told you when Emily moved in with you, that we'd kill you if you hurt her, because we all know she isn't as strong as she pretends to be... and you promised you wouldn't... you better make this right, because I don't want to kill you, but that won't stop me or the rest of the team and you know it." Rossi warned.

"I know that... really I do... she's the best thing that's ever happened to me Dave, what if I've ruined it?" Hotch sighed, feeling ten times worse now that he'd talked with Rossi.

"Aaron bloody Hotchner... don't be such an idiot, it really doesn't suit you." Rossi ordered. "I know you love her, and I know she'll always love you, no matter how much of an ass you are, so the only way you'll ruin it, is by running from your problems, just like you did with Haley."

"I know you're right... but it's easier said than done." Hotch sighed again.

"Well then just use the image of the entire team hunting you down and killing you slowly as motivation to do what you need to do." Rossi commanded, not even feeling slightly sorry for his friend's situation.

"But after what I said... how do I know she still loves me?" Hotch questioned then, feeling nerves creep into his voice.

"Because you're an educated man... and even if you weren't, it's blatantly obvious that Emily Prentiss worships the ground you walk on... god only knows why with the way you treat her sometimes... but she does, so make this right." Rossi replied, before hanging up the phone swiftly, refusing to listen to any more of Hotch's problems... especially the ones that weren't actually problems.

Hotch sighed to himself as he took a sip of his scotch... he knew Rossi was right, and he also knew that he would suffer a beating from the team if he didn't act soon... so with that in mind, and of course the fact that he loved Emily with every fibre of his being, he vowed to make things right again.

So that's why, rather than finish his scotch and go to bed miserable as he'd originally intended, he stayed up, and thought out the best way to win back the love of his life.  
_

There, that was a pretty short chapter, but the other one will be longer. Thanks for reading and please tell me that you thought.


	45. Kiss and Makeup

This is the next chapter, and now we find out if Hotch and Emily can kiss and make up...

The next day...  
_

"Are you sure you're ready to go back home?" A concerned JJ asked, as she stood in her front hall, fussing over Emily. "You could stay until lunch... or maybe leave it until tomorrow, you're still pretty upset." She added almost pleadingly.

"As much as I appreciate the offer... I promised I'd go back.. If not for Aaron then for Jack, not to mention that me and Aaron have some talking to do... about the future." Emily told her friend for what felt like the hundredth time since breakfast.

"Cher, let her go... Emily's a big girl, she can look after herself." Will soothed JJ, placing his arms on her shoulders and easing her away gently, rolling his eyes at Emily as he did.

"Fine!" JJ huffed childishly. "But if anything happens, anything at all you call me and I'll be right over." She promised.

"Ok, if it keeps you happy I'll call you if anything at all happens... I swear!" Emily replied, laughing at her friends over protectiveness.

"Hey don't laugh.. Or I'll call Garcia... then you'll be going over there with an army behind you." JJ threatened, only half joking.

"Ok, ok I'm sorry." Emily apologised hastily, holding up her hands in defeat. "Though I think I'll go now, or risk having an army sent with me anyway." She added, reaching out and hugging her friend tightly, before turning and hugging Will briefly and kissing Henry, who was in Will's arms.

"Ok, be safe." JJ called after her as she walked out the door.

"I'm not going to war JJ." Emily called back over her shoulder.

"I wouldn't be so sure." JJ murmured with a sigh, as she stepped back and shut her door.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Daddy... when's Emmy coming home?" Jack whined, as he sat on the sitting room floor, playing with his action figures.

"I told you buddy... she'll be home today." Hotch reminded his son for the eight time that morning, as he sat on the couch, trying to read a case file, but failing to get passed the third line.

"I know... but I really, really, really miss her." Jack complained, looking up at his father with his best puppy dog eyes.

"I know buddy... so do I." Hotch sighed, smiling sadly down at his son.

"Then why were you fighting?" Jack asked innocently, remembering hearing shouting yesterday when he was supposed to be asleep, just before he heard the door close.

"Sometimes grown up's fight, even though we shouldn't and even though it's silly and we didn't mean to." Hotch replied in the simplest terms possible.

"Will our plan help make Emmy feel happier?" Jack questioned.

"If our plan works, then yea, it'll make Emmy way happier." Hotch responded, a smile growing on his face at the thought.

"Good." Jack replied enthusiastically. "Because our plan's good... and I like it when Emmy's happy... she plays with me then." He added, a satisfied grin growing on his face.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Emmy!" Jack exclaimed, once Emily closed the front door behind her.

"Jackster!" Emily responded happily, as she scooped Jack into her arms just before he toppled her over.

"I missed you last night Emmy." The young boy muttered into Emily's shoulder, as he clung on to her, afraid she'd leave again.

"I missed you to Jack." Emily replied sincerely. "And I promise I won't leave again." She added, hoping that she wouldn't have to break that.

"Good... because daddy missed you too." Jack added, looking up at Emily. "He's not been happy all day." He added with a sigh.

"Really?" Emily questioned, trying to keep her tone neutral, even though this news sparked happiness in her heart.

"Really." Came Hotch's voice from the living room, causing Emily to turn and notice him for the first time. "Jack could you go and play with your toys... me and Emmy need to talk about grown up stuff." He added, looking up at his son.

"Ok daddy." Jack replied, letting Emily set him down on the ground before he ran off to his room.

"I'm sorry." Hotch whispered, standing up off the couch and taking a few steps towards Emily, the second they were alone together.

"I know... and I'm sorry as well... what I said to you was... it was horrible." Emily whispered, bowing her head in shame at her words.

"Well what I said to you wasn't very nice either... and just for the record, it isn't true." Hotch told her, taking another step towards her and finally reaching out and wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her close to his chest.

"Yea, but it is true... I'm not his mom, Haley is, and what I said... I really am sorry." Emily sighed, feeling a lump in her throat at the thought that her words could have ruined her relationship with Hotch and with Jack.

"You're right..." Hotch sighed, taking half a step back so he could look Emily in the eye. "Haley is Jack's mom, and nothing will ever change that... but despite what he's been through Jack is lucky, because not only is Haley his mom, but you are too Emily." He told her with a smile.

"You don't have to say that to make me feel better you know." Emily sighed sadly. "I was wrong to just presume you saw me as Jack's surrogate mother..." She trailed off uncertainly.

"You're wrong." Hotch informed her, smiling at the confused look on Emily's face. "I do see you as that, and just because I was angry doesn't mean that what I said was true... you're as near to a mother as Jack has now, and no matter what I say to you, or you say to me, you always will be." He promised.

"What if one of us leaves? Or if we get hurt? I love Jack more than anything, and as much as I want that to be true... People don't always get what they want in life Aaron." Emily reminded him sadly, knowing only too well that life didn't always happen the way you wanted it to.

"I know that... and last night when you were gone I done some thinking about that." Hotch admitted. "So I need to ask you something... and before you say anything Jack was actually more excited about the idea than I was..." He added as he trailed off.

"And what is this idea?" Emily asked in amusement at the awkward look on Hotch's face.

"Ok, now don't feel pressured into saying yes... but... would you like to adopt Jack?" He asked, studying Emily's eyes for her reaction.

"Wha-... Oh my god, really?" Emily asked, an excited giggle falling from her lips as her eyes lit up.

"Yes really... after what I said I realised just how wrong I was... so this is my way of proving that I didn't mean it, and I'll never mean it, because I love you, and Jack loves you, and I'd have to be a complete idiot to let you go." Hotch replied honestly.

"Yes." Emily whispered softly, looking up at Hotch, still in shock at what he'd just asked her. "I know you love me, and I love you, and Jack more than anything, so yes, I'd love to adopt him... it would mean the world to me." She clarified, wrapping her arms securely around Hotch's waist and hugging him.

"Good, because I never want to lose you Emily... never." Hotch sighed into her hair.

"Lucky for you then, because I'm not that easy to lose." Emily laughed softly into his chest.

"Good." Hotch replied, tilting Emily's head up until she was looking him in the eye. "Because I never want to lose this." He whispered, leaning down and capturing Emily's lips in a steamy kiss, trailing his tongue along her bottom lip and waiting until she parted her lips slowly to slip his tongue in to explore her mouth for what felt like the first time in years.

"So really you're just with me because I'm an amazing kisser." Emily teased, still slightly out of breath, as they broke apart.

"Among other things... yes." Hotch laughed, as he leant his forehead against hers and kissed the top of her nose lightly.

"Ew! Daddy, stop kissing Emmy!" Jack exclaimed suddenly, causing both adults to jump a little in shock.

"Sorry buddy, I forgot girls have cooties." Hotch told his son, untangling his arms from around Emily's waist and stepping away, winking at her as he did.

"Not all girls have cooties... Emmy, and Aunt Jess, and Aunt Jen, and Aunt Penny don't." Jack explained to his father, smiling up at Emily.

"So why can't I kiss her then?" Hotch asked his son, tying not to laugh.

"Because... you need to ask her the thing." Jack reminded his father, as if Hotch was the four year old and not Jack.

"What thing?" Hotch asked, teasing his son, and causing Emily to let out a small giggle as the look of frustration grew on Jack's small face.

"The thing... about me!"Jack reminded his father in a loud whisper.

"Oh that thing." Hotch replied dramatically, as if he'd only realised what Jack was talking about. "Well I already asked her that thing." He told the young boy with a wide smile.

"And? What did Emmy say?" Jack asked, bouncing on his heels in excitement.

"Why don't you ask her yourself." Hotch prompted, looking from Jack to Emily, who was smiling widely.

"Well Emmy... Are you going to be my new mommy?" Jack asked seriously, as he turned his attention to Emily.

"Yes buddy... I'm going to be your new mommy." Emily replied with a wide smile, as she bent down to catch Jack in her arms, as he ran towards her in excitement.  
_

Well I'm pretty sure that's a good resolution to their fight... well one I'm happy with anyway. Tell me if you liked it, and thank you for reading.


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